Genre: Fantasy, epic

Starring: Matt Damon, Anne Hathaway, Tom Holland

Muscat – With tales of doomed lovers, cursed sirens, and vengeful demigods, Greek mythology remains one of the silver screen’s pampered playgrounds. These narratives have flaws, ironies, coincidences, catharsis, filial politics, divine justice, and most importantly, the quest for self actualisation.

Ancient but timeless chaos has inspired every film-maker to go back to Athens, Sparta and Rome to complete their cinematic career. Christopher Nolan is the latest one to join the bandwagon with his 3000-year-old epic The Odyssey being retold with his own magical lens, and exclusive cast

Like every Nolan film, the obsession with an ‘I-want-to-go-home’ theme serves the heart and soul of the narrative throughout.Much like Interstellar, Inception, and Dunkirk, the protagonist Odysseus is desperate to unite with his queen Penelope, son, and his kingdom – Ithaca.Not the bravest or the most skillful warrior unlike Achilles or Hector, Odysseus is a brilliant strategist and he was the one who managed to conquer the unforgiving Troy with the deceptive Trojan Horse. Soon after the war and victory, he leaves for Ithaca, and what would have taken a few weeks to sail, took him two decades. This journey, laced with storms, tempests, witches, monsters, ship wreckage, temptations, divine curses lead the king to delay his home coming for years.

Matt Damon as Odysseus, Anne Hathaway as Penelope lived their roles. But it was Robert Pattinson who stole the show. Anger, jealousy and insecurity made him give shades of a man injured in his past but ambitious in future. Locations can be also considered characters with stretches of white, golden sands, lush forests, mysterious mist, cold stone walls, terraces overseeing ‘emptiness’ of sea and life were epic choices of the director that made the film grand and sombre.

At this age where epic films are dependent on heavy VFX and AI tools, Nolan used practical effects in most scenes. From the gigantic Trojan horse to the one-eyed monster to centuries old ship to 2000 extras and musical instruments to compose the haunting longing tune of Penelope, the auteur used grand old methods of real-life shoot to any digitalised version.

The film is loaded with woke culture. The secondary cast is a total betrayal to Homer. On first glance, it feels one is taking a ride in a New York tube with passengers from various culture and genes. In The Odyssey, Helen is African, Agamemnon is styled like ‘Batman’, co-sailors are African, Chinese, and Indian, – this makes the film appear awkward.

Epics evoke grandeur – in 70mm, it would have been a spectacle to witness from gigantic giants, monsters, high octave action sequences, seductive sirens, epic transformation to animals, mysterious magical caves, and God’s wrath in the mighty waves. But Nolan chose to remain grounded. He weaved the story of a King in pain as an everyday struggle with more inner monsters to fight – the ambition, pride, jealousy, cunningness.

The saddest part was very less screen time given to the faithful dog. It could had been an emotional reunion when every person in Ithaca fails to recognise the home return, it was only his dog who waited for two decades to recoginise him. Nolan ignored it, perhaps, to keep the ‘bomb-under-the-table’ theory alive.