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🇰🇷 South Korea /Culture & Society

‘The Odyssey’: A chamber drama disguised as spectacle, says Žižek

From Hankyoreh · () Korean

Translated from Korean, summarized and contextualized by DistantNews.

At a glance

Analysis Sources not specified Context piece
  • Slavoj Žižek analyzes Christopher Nolan's film "The Odyssey," arguing it functions as an intimate chamber drama rather than a grand spectacle.
  • Žižek highlights Nolan's focus on the inner lives of female characters and their desexualized portrayal, contrasting it with the Iliad's emphasis on male exploits.
  • The film's strength, according to Žižek, lies in its modest scale and nuanced depiction of characters, particularly women, deviating from typical blockbuster conventions.

Slavoj Žižek, a scholar at Kyung Hee University, offers a contrarian view of Christopher Nolan's "The Odyssey," positing that the film is not the grand spectacle many reviews suggest, but rather a subtle chamber drama.

“Gurrelieder” is simply a piece of chamber music that needs 600 players to be properly performed.

— Slavoj ŽižekŽižek uses an analogy about Arnold Schoenberg's "Gurrelieder" to introduce his argument about the nature of Nolan's film.

Žižek contrasts the film's intimate scale with expectations set by reviews praising its "gigantic spectacular scenes" and "raw authenticity." He points to the depiction of the Greek army as a small group on a desolate beach and Troy as a modest city, rather than vast armies and a megacity. Even the terrifying Charybdis is portrayed as a modest water hazard, not a "terrifying threat" easily rendered with special effects.

after reading numerous reviews that were enthralled by gigantic spectacular scenes, by the raw authenticity of fighting, etc., the movie itself appeared to me almost the opposite of these descriptions, a rather modest, almost chamber drama which occasionally reminded me of B productions.

— Slavoj ŽižekŽižek shares his initial reaction to "The Odyssey" after reading prevailing reviews.

He further elaborates on Nolan's innovative approach to character, particularly women. While the "Iliad" focuses on male exploits with women in the background, "The Odyssey" brings their inner lives forward. Nolan, Žižek argues, takes this further by desexualizing the female stars, showing their age and focusing on their inner lives. This is exemplified by Samantha Morton's portrayal of Circe, who is not a seductress but is disgusted by male gluttony, a stark contrast to her depiction in the poem.

These remarks are not meant as a criticism; they point out what makes the film great.

— Slavoj ŽižekŽižek clarifies that his observations about the film's scale are intended to highlight its strengths.
DistantNews Editorial

Originally published by Hankyoreh in Korean. Translated, summarized, and contextualized by our editorial team with added local perspective. Read our editorial standards.

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