Homer translator slams Nolan's 'Odyssey' as 'disastrous'

Film scholar Emily Wilson has delivered a scathing review of Christopher Nolan's latest film, "Odyssey," despite its critical and commercial success. Wilson, whose 2017 translation of Homer's "Odyssey" inspired Nolan's adaptation, expressed deep disappointment in a piece for the "London Review of Books." She called the screenplay "disastrous," stating that characters lacked believable motivations and that the film suffered from a lack of psychological, emotional, political, and ethical depth.

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I would be ashamed if I had written such a scenario.

Despite her criticisms, Wilson acknowledged that Nolan's film has reignited public interest in Homer's classic. She noted that translations of "The Odyssey," including her own, are selling exceptionally well, and she hopes the film might even encourage universities to maintain their literature, language, and history departments. "This epic brings audiences back to the cinema," she said, expressing gratitude that Nolan's work encourages a wider audience to re-engage with the text.

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The screenplay is disastrous. None of the characters have believable motivation for their actions or words.

However, Wilson found the three-hour spectacle largely underwhelming, describing it as a combination of "grandiosity and superficiality." She felt the film's vision was too muddled and its characters underdeveloped, failing to deliver on its grand ideas despite impressive visuals of explosions and giants. She likened the film to a "family audiovisual spectacle," comparable to a Fourth of July fireworks display in its narrative and emotional depth, a sentiment echoed by her teenagers who reportedly "enjoyed" it.

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This epic brings audiences back to the cinema.

Wilson also observed that the film features more female characters than many of Nolan's other works, a nod to the original epic. Yet, she noted, these characters have little to say, a stark contrast to their richer portrayals in Homer's text. Nolan himself had previously cited Wilson's translation's opening line, "Tell me of the complicated man," as a guide for shaping the protagonist, played by Matt Damon. While Wilson's review is highly critical, other outlets like "The Telegraph" and "Metro" have lauded the film as "film of the year" and a game-changer for cinema, respectively.

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Nolan's usual combination of grandiosity and superficiality.