I think of myself as a fairly literate person. So, of course, I've read Homer's epic poem, The Odyssey.
That's why, when it was announced that Christopher Nolan's next project was an adaptation of the story, I had a pretty good idea of what we would be getting, as to how far one can deviate from such a classic tale. Then, I saw the first trailer. And the cast listing. I thought, wait, maybe I DON'T know what this movie will be like, because the vision I initially had in my head was not what I was seeing with every tidbit of information.
Which puts me in an interesting spot. As somebody who loves the original story, I didn't know what I thought of this new interpretation. The longer I've sat with it, the more I've come to love Nolan's tweaks to the story. Here's why.
Can I Just Say That I'm In Love With This Casting? And Yes, All Of It
Here's a thing that I think everybody should know, but I feel I have to remind people of: OPINIONS CANNOT BE “WRONG.” THEY ARE JUST OPINIONS. Believing otherwise would denote them as facts, which they are not. They are just somebody's personal feelings. So, when Elon Musk makes statements against Lupita Nyong'o playing Helen of Troy, you may disagree with him (I certainly do), but it doesn’t mean he's “wrong.“ That's just what he feels. As The Dude would say, “Yeah? Well, you know. That's just like, uh, your opinion, man.”
It is MY opinion that Lupita Nyong'o, who I think is beautiful, would make for an amazing Helen of Troy. Not only that, but I love that Nolan is pulling a Michael B. Jordan dual role by having Nyong'o play both Helen and her sister, Clytemnestra. That, I would say, is inspired casting. I also dig the possibility of Elliot Page playing Achilles (as we still, as of this writing, don’t know who Page is playing). Yes, people, today like to think of Brad Pitt from Troy as the best Achilles, but I think Page would be a pretty rad take on the figure. It's certainly different.
John Leguizamo as the blind Eumaeus is another interesting choice. Plus, Travis Scott as a bard is just the icing on the cake. It's not like Nolan hasn't worked with Scott before, as the latter was in Tenet. So, if Nolan thinks the rapper works in the role, then I'm all for it.
Remember, many people initially thought that Heath Ledger wouldn't work as The Joker, and look how that turned out. So, let Nolan cook!
I Like That Elements Of The Fall of Troy Are Also Being Represented
Here's something people may not know. The Trojan Horse is never mentioned in The Odyssey's precursor, The Iliad. Like, at all. It is mentioned in passing in The Odyssey, but the Trojan Horse, which is often the key iconography in the fall of Troy, is not in The Iliad. Instead, it’s in Virgil’s The Aeneid. This is because Homer’s The Iliad doesn’t reach the end of the war, so we don’t get to see the Trojan Horse.
That said, we do see in the trailer that there are flashbacks to the fall of Troy, as well as the aforementioned Trojan Horse, and I really like this aspect of the film. The Iliad and The Odyssey are two very different epic poems. The Iliad is more of a war story and valor. The Odyssey, however, is a more fantastical story with witches, cyclops, and monsters, etc.
The melding of these two poems, even if only through flashbacks, will give The Odyssey an interesting tone that I’m looking forward to. I’m also interested to see how some of these characters fit into The Odyssey. For example, Benny Safdie plays Agamemnon, who is in the Underworld in The Odyssey, but very much alive during the war. So, I’d love to see those scenes from The Iliad and The Aeneid play out.
I have so many questions, and I hope the movie delivers when it comes to representing the other poems.
I’m Also Perfectly Fine With The Characters Speaking In Perfect English If It Makes The Story More Accessible To A Broader Audience
I’ve never really liked Mel Gibson as an actor, but I do love him as a director, and one of my favorite movies that he directed is Apocalypto. Aside from being a great chase movie, it is cool because the entire film is spoken in Yucatec Maya (I also think it’s cool that The Passion of the Christ is spoken in Aramaic, Latin, and Hebrew).
I like antiquity and accuracy. I also really like reading subtitles (Sub will ALWAYS be better than dub). However, another controversy (outside of the casting) that I’ve seen online for Christopher Nolan’s The Odyssey is that the actors speak in English with American accents - including the English actors like Tom Holland and Robert Pattinson! I’m sorry, but is this really a problem? I love reading, and I would have no problem if the actors in this film spoke in ancient Greek or whatever, and we got subtitles, but I am NOT your typical moviegoer.
In fact, most people I talk to haven’t read a book in years, and don’t want to read it. Hell, if they did, they wouldn’t even need to watch The Odyssey because they would have already read it. That said, for The Odyssey to have the broadest appeal possible, I think it should be in English. Also, since Matt Damon is the star, I’d much rather he speak normally rather than having to adopt an English accent just to match some of the other actors’ speech patterns. The Odyssey is a really wonderful story that’s been told for literally thousands of years, and if this is somebody's introduction to the story, then so be it.
In other words, I don’t want accuracy or subtitles to be a barrier to entry. Sure, maybe characters shouldn’t be shouting, “Let’s go!” as they charge into battle, but modernizing The Odyssey doesn’t seem like the worst thing in the world to me, which brings me to my last point.
Hopefully, Nolan Can Do For This Epic Poem What He Did For Batman, Which Is Give It A New Approach
Was Batman the character dead before Batman Begins? Of course not. Batman is bigger than the movies. That said, was his cinematic presence on life support before Batman Begins? Probably, because even though I love it, a lot of fans thought Batman & Robin was pretty much the death knell for Batman's character on screen, given how silly it was.
Then, Nolan revitalized the character with Batman Begins, and Batman was cool again.
My point is that The Odyssey is a classic story, and it's been adapted before. Even so, I think it'd be boring if it were just the same story retold, and I'm hoping that Nolan can put his particular spin on it.
So far, I like what I see.
