You can’t win them all.
The beauty of art is that everyone gets their own interpretation for the piece that they engage with.
When Christopher Nolan read a 2017 edition of Homer’s Odyssey, he must have been wearing his Oppenheimer thinking cap because he was compelled to show Odysseus’ 10 years of glory and 10 years of guilt.
While The Odyssey continues to sweep audiences in its third week at the box office, more people are having their say.
It turns out the very person who was essential in starting Nolan’s odyssey with The Odyssey, completely hates the film.
Emily Wilson was the translator famously known for her work on the 2017 edition of Homer’s second classic, bringing the ageless tale to new readers around the world.
In a London Review of Books post, she dropped 4,220 words expressing her problems with the film.
“It’s a family-friendly audiovisual spectacle, like an elaborate Fourth of July fireworks display – and with about the same level of narrative and emotional depth”
In the 25–paragraph review, Wilson left nothing untouched.
“It lacks psychological, emotional, political and ethical depth. Its narrative structure is gimmicky. The writing is abysmal.”
“None of the characters has convincing motivation for their actions or words. There are no sex scenes, and all the food looks horrible.”
Truely, there was nothing left untouched by her review.
She also shared her take on one of the most common critiques to emerge prior to the film’s release: the racial mix of casting.
Her issue with the casting was a lot less scandalous than the takes of basement dwellers on X, stating “Most of the non-white actors…play versions of the Black best friend, whose only role in the drama is to provide aid to the white protagonist”.
It seems the only thing Nolan and Wilson have in common for their interpretations, is the infamous sentence ‘Tell me about a complicated man’,
A sentence that gave infamous acclaim to the writer and undying inspiration to the director.
“I was humbled to learn that Nolan has read at least the first line of my translation (in an interview)…but I would be ashamed to have written any part of this script”
