Swing And A Myth: How Christopher Nolan Struck Out On Homer's The Odyssey

Odyssey Deez Nuts, Nolan 

Long time readers may recall I once made a post about how much I love Homer’s The Odyssey.

That should set off alarm bells for how this is going to go.

Let Us Begin

Now, don't get me wrong, Christopher Nolan has directed some excellent movies in his time, dear reader.

The Prestige. Inception. Interstellar.

When he announced he was adapting the Odyssey I was all aboard the hype train!

Having seen it, however, I can safely say this is my least favorite Nolan movie to date.

To give credit where credit is due the cinematography and use of practical effects can be downright stunning at times but I didn't come here for that. I came for the story.

And it is here, dear reader where i unfortunately have to say I think Christopher Nolan jumped the shark with this one. 

In fact I could say many negative things about this movie, but while the atrocious costume design, lackluster score, and clunky dialogue would almost certainly be among them, there is one cardinal sin that deserves special attention: namely Christopher Nolan's refusal to embrace the story he allegedly set out to adapt. 

Right out of the gate we're introduced to a world that is stark, bleak, and empty which is shocking because this fucker filmed on site in the Mediterranean so he had to go out of his way to edit it in post to make the real, vibrant landscapes appear gloomy.

So, no, we weren't off to a great start when everything's depressing, cynical, and dark where it should be lively, pithy and bright. 

Why?

My lowered expectations plummeted still further as Nolan somehow forgot the point of this three hour long self-righteous dick stroke of a film wasn't supposed to be whether the Greeks returning from the Trojan War were really the Sea People or if the Trojan War was actually fought over trade routes, but about whether Odysseus would survive returning from it.

I could overlook some gripes individually but together they formed a clear and running disrespect for the source material that permeates this entire ordeal like mold across an otherwise delectable loaf of bread.

Story beats and characters are changed from the book while certain actions are not, leaving bizarre scenarios where things occur not because they make sense but because they MUST in order to limp the story along to the next set piece.

Case and point: the cyclops. 

In Homer’s Odyssey the cyclops, Polyphemus, is a talkative little prick who gleefully encounters Odysseus and his men as they try to avoid starving to death by following some sheep into a cave. Once they enter they discover it is an inhabited cave once voila! Polyphemus traps them inside by rolling a giant fuck off boulder over the entrance.

He proceeds to gleefully eat a few of them each day before rolling the stone back to let his sheep out to graze. His men despair, but Odysseus? He has a plan.

Polyphemus may not want to parlay but he still has to sleep, and so one night Odysseus blinds him.

When the cyclops hears Odysseus talking to his men he asks what his name is and Odysseus responds with "Nobody."

The other cyclops (for it is an entire island of the things you see) hear Polyphemus crying and come to see whats got him all hot and bothered. When asked what's wrong Polythemus screams from inside his cave that Nobody has blinded him! The Giants roll their eyes (see what I did there?) and tell Polyphemus he's an idiot and to shut up for crying about Nobody doing something to him.

Get it? The whole thing was a pun and Poly-boy walked right into it.

Now blinded AND humiliated Plyphemus resolves to kill every last member of Odysseus crew, rolling the stone back just enough for a sheep to pass through and feeling it with his hand before allowing it to pass. Once they're all out to feed he rolls the stone shut and spends the day blindly hunting Odysseus and his men within the confines of the cave.

His men once again despair but Odysseus, our boy, once again has a plan.

He waits for the cyclops to sleep and commands his men to lash the sheep together. The next morning as Polyphemus rolls the stone back Odysseus commands his men to hug the belly of a sheep and in doing so manage to pass Polyphemus’ inspection.

Having made it outside they all make a run for the beach and pile back into the ships and start rowing.

It is here that Odysseus makes a critical mistake albeit one entirely within character.

You see up until now this scene has displayed his cleverness and wit, but now we also see his biggest flaw: pride.

Odysseus could've just snuck out with the boys and made away like a fart in the wind but like other Greek heroes he was obsessed with kleos, or the pursuit of glory, and so he just can't bring himself to pass by such a golden opportunity to increase his own reknown.

And so, as they sail away, he calls out from the deck of his ship with the ancient equivalent of "tally ho, fuck boy, it was I, Odysseus, king of Ithaca, the entire time. I am the 'Nobody' who outsmarted you! Suck on THAT!"

Upon hearing this, Polyphemus throws a hissy and cries out in prayer to his father, Poseidon (the god of the sea) to fuck up Odysseus and his men. Poseidon hops to, and the story of how Odysseus managed to take ten years to sail home truly begins.

Homer has Odysseus own pride be his undoing, you see, the world's cleverest man too clever for his own good.

Unironically A More Faithful Adaptation

Meanwhile, Christopher Nolan’s version has the Cyclops be a dumb mute presented like an upscaled version of Lenny from of Mice and Men, making him a sympathetic character who gnaws on several dudes skulls not out of malice, but ignorance.

He's not evil, no! He's just hungry and doesn't know any better.

Odysseus and the crew still blind him while he sleeps, sure, but now that seems almost cruel.

The utilization of the sheep occurs but there's no real thought put behind explaining why it would work to escape the cave, no great victory in outsmarting the hulking lummox.

Once they do, however, Odysseus randomly turns back to view the crying and confused behemoth and decides to shoot an arrow at him because....reasons.

No gloating. No real justification. Just shooting what has been presented as a mentally challenged giant for the love of the game.

His men are like "wtf bro that was a son of Poseidon," Matt Damon looks concerned, and then we never really touch on it again.

Can YOU Tell Which One Is Meant To Be More Sympathetic?

Not only does this utterly throw out the narrative point of this entire interaction, but the character of Odysseus has been changed into something less like the dashing rogue of Homer and more like a common and petty asshole.

Odysseus is supposed to have charm and wit! Here he's been reduced to a mean spirited prig who just wants to hurt someone that can't fight back.

It's like watching Erroyl Flynn and expecting him to give the opposing captain a cheeky wave before he jumps back to his own ship only to have him pull out a gun and shoot the man's dog instead.

It's jarring. It's clunky. And it doesn't work with what youve already shown on screen.

Nolans Odysseus is a damaged, depressed, and broken man, and I could have worked with that in the right context.

What I cannot accept is an Odysseus who isn't clever or possessing of an innate, insatiable curiousity.

Oh, he still demands to hear the sirens song, sure, but why? I know why he did it in Homer but in Nolan’s take it genuinely came as a surprise.

He hasn't demonstrated being curious so far in the film so why the sudden change of heart?

Well, probably because the siren scene is iconic to the story and here in lies the crux of the issue.

Nolan is known for doing dark, gritty, down to earth movies where realism is the name of the game but by trying to be all deep and philosophical by making man the real monster it just comes off as pretentious and, quite frankly, disingenuous as he doesn't have the balls to show our characters doing anything wrong to deserve their own story’s ire.

How can we accept these men deserve to die for doing evil when all we see is them getting their shit wrecked by monsters and fleeing in terror?

The sacking of Troy is presented as justification enough, indeed is portrayed as mankind's original sin or at the very least a monumental shift in social ethics akin to Cain slaying Abel but...why? What in the context of this story made the sacking of Troy specifically such a fall from grace- not just for the sackers but for all humanity?

But I digress.

Look, I could unfortunately wax poetic for hours on the many changes Nolan has made to/ overemphasized on Zeus’ law, Circe, dealing with the suitors, Penelope, Telemachus, and what appears to be Odysseus’ callous disregard for the death of his own fucking dog, but at the end of the day it doesn't matter.

This movie could very well make over a billion dollars in its theatrical run, but that doesn't matter either.

Homer’s Odyssey has stood the test of time and this movie quite simply will not.

Many negative things may be said for Christopher Nolan;s The Odyssey, dear reader, but first and foremost it is that this is Christopher Nolan’s Odyssey, not Homers.

Nolan did not adapt this story. He just made his own story wear an Odyssey skin suit to give it some flair.

He gives us no room for levity or wonder, only gloomy cynicism amid bleak surroundings.

His Odysseus is not an intrepid adventurerer, but rather a (now chronic) PTSD suffering Christopher Nolan protagonist (TM) injected into an epic quest where he does not belong.

Oh, yes, this is Christopher Nolan's Odyssey alright.

Through and through.

And for that he should be ashamed. 

Sing in me, oh Muse, and through me tell the story of that man skilled in all ways of contending, the wanderer…