Odysseus: For some, war becomes home
Narrative
After 20 years, Odysseus finally returns to Ithaca, where he finds his wife held captive by suitors vying for the king, and his son facing death at their hands. To win back his family and everything he has lost, Odysseus must rediscover his strength. For the third time, Ralph Fiennes and Juliette Binoche star in a film together. They previously worked together in Wuthering Heights (1992) and The English Patient (1996). Penelope: How can men find their way to war but not home?
It tells the story of Odysseus’ attempt to return home to Ithaca after the Trojan War
One of Homer’s Greats THE ODYSSEY is a work of Western literature and has been told on film many times and in different ways. He is beset from the beginning with obstacles in the form of monsters, a sorceress, sirens, lotus eaters, cannibals, etc. The previous versions of this story focused on the spectacular and sensational elements, particularly 1954’s ULYSSES starring Kirk Douglas. (For this film, Odysseus was renamed Ulysses for an unknown reason.) This version differs in that it focuses on the human elements of the story, when Odysseus finally returns to Ithaca after ten hard-fought years to find that his kingdom is in severe decline and his wife is at the mercy of gangster men who are trying to marry her to get their money and the kingdom because they all think Odysseus is dead. They threaten her and Ithaca with violence if she does not choose one of them as a husband.
It is aimed at intelligent adults with adult emotions and rationality
After ten years, Odysseus is unrecognizable and must assess the situation before planning his strategy to get rid of these vile men bleeding his country dry and take his rightful place as king. He disguises himself as a tramp until he can reveal himself and act. This is not a film full of CGI special effects aimed at teenagers. The literary screenplay by the late Edward Bond, John Collee and Uberto Pasolini is a joy to hear, especially when spoken by top-notch actors. But a large portion of the film has no dialogue at all.
She gives a beautiful, complex performance
The actors do a lot with “subtext”, especially the brilliant Juliette Binoche as Penelope. Ralph Fiennes delivers the best performance I’ve seen from him so far. Mr. Pasolini is also the director of the film and he does a great job of keeping it focused and suspenseful. The cinematography is by Marius Panduru, who is beautifully served by the beautiful locations on the island of Corfu.
Fiennes fairly early on)
The effective and understated music is by Oscar winner Rachel Portman. If such things bother you, I would warn you that the film contains a lot of blood and violence and some nudity (including a long, full Monty from Mr. I am so grateful to the producers for having the courage to make a film aimed at intelligent adults. I hope it gets enough audience support to encourage others to do the same.