bertramonline

So, we went and saw the The Odyssey. I will not write a review as such, or contribute to the (mostly concocted) controversies. This: Impale and Cry is one of the better and more balanced reviews I have read, and I agree with much of it — except, perhaps, the snip about Zendaya. She can only do what the script and the director ask of her, and there is also the general law that she cannot do anything wrong.

It is quite a spectacle in IMAX and surround sound, and probably the loudest soundtrack I ever experienced. It really is an immersive experience. That is all well and good.

What struck me is that while there is a hero and a journey, it is not a hero’s journey as formulated by Joseph Campbell and made into a Hollywood tool by Chris Vogler. There is no call to adventure, no refusal of the call, no mentor nor threshold, and so on. You can argue that some of the early stages are in the prequel that is the Iliad, and that the return with the elixir could be seen in the final scenes, if you really, really stretch the imagination.

So definitely not a Hollywood story like that the ones we have become used to for the last few decades. What is it then? It does seem like a string of loosely connected fragments, some short, some longer, some interesting, some very brief. And violence, a lot of violence.

Is there any kind of story ark? If we skip the canonical hero’s journey formula, perhaps it is a story focused on the inner journey of the characters? Perhaps it is all about Odysseus’ changes and insights and internal turmoil? Hard to tell but it really does not seem so. We know little of his inner life, except perhaps that he somewhat regrets some of his actions. But what does that even mean? It all ends in a bloody massacre that he perpetrates with little regret.

Compared to last years two major movies, One Battle After Another and Sinners, this is not a movie that will be listed as one of the best of the year, decade, or century. Sure, it will win some Oscars for this or that, but I think it will also be quickly forgotten, just like you don’t remember that Big Mac Menu for very long.

In this interview Nolan answers a few questions with some pseudo-intellectual observations. The interviewer, alas, does not ask why he wanted to use this particular, well-known story and then skip some key points, such as how Odysseus deals with Polyfemos, and how his encounter with Circe ends.

In the end it is quite flat, but entertaining in a vague sense. The popcorn were good, but remain empty calories. “Flat” is the word that springs about the movie that, after all, is one of the most expensive movies ever made.

There was no spontaneous applause as we left the theatre.