My response to seeing this film was one of bewilderment and overload. Not being schooled in Greek Classics, I wasn't sure what to expect other than Odysseus going on a journey. I saw it at the BFI IMAX in London and the fact that it was shot on 70mm IMAX film delivered an outstanding visual feast - the sound was pretty awesome too. At almost 3 hours long and seeing it on such huge screen, I left the cinema feeling exhausted. I'm not sure if that's a good thing demonstrating that the experience had engaged me, or whether that really is a state I want to experience after watching a film. My sense is the latter.
There is plenty to praise about this film. Christopher Nolan must be congratulated for conceiving, writing, producing and directing it. The production budget was $250m and the film has already globally grossed $1.7b and the critics are pretty universally positive about it. The ensemble cast led by Matt Damon in the titular role delivered a strong performance, but it was strange that the Ancient Greeks all had American accents!
One of the things that I struggled with was the non-linear nature of the narrative. My little brain gets easily confused and it was a challenge to work out who was who, what was a flashback and sometimes, even where we were at that point in the story. With goddesses, nymphs, witches and ordinary people all looking the same, I found it adding to my confusion. Add to this acts of magic and encounters with mythical creatures like Cyclops, giant warriors, Sirens, Scylla and Charybdis the whole cast of the ancient Greek world had a turn. There was a lot of fighting and killing - I found it an overly violent film.
Having said that, the overriding desire to be faithful to Zeus' Law and offer hospitality to everyone and a sense of justice and the desire to do things right, were elements that made it into more of a morality play. For all of the Greeks civilisation and advanced philosophy and learning, the central story seemed to be one of cause and effect where everyone needed to placate the gods or suffer the consequences of an early death or treacherous seas.
As I wasn't sure of what to expect, the fact that it is 'based on' and not an attempt at a 'faithful retelling' of the original didn't bother me. For me the abiding feeling is that this story is a love story. Penelope never gave up faith that even after 20 years since the Trojan Wars her Odysseus would one day return. Odysseus' honour drove him to humbly seek being reunited with his wife and in that sense there was a happy ending as he and Penelope sailed off into the sunset to honour his fallen soldiers.
I'm glad I've seen the film but at the moment, six days after having seen it, I'm pretty sure I don't need to repeat the experience. I did find myself checking my watch quite a few times as I was watching which is never a good sign in my books. However, this film is truly epic in every sense of the word. I'll give it 7.5/10.
