'THE RETURN' REVIEW: Odysseus — So Hot Right Now [3.5/5]
Ralph Fiennes Gets His Turn at the Greek Hero Just Under the Christopher Nolan Wire
[Rating 3.5/5] - dir. Uberto Pasolini - 2024 - Italy/United Kingdom - R - 1h 56m - Historical Fantasy / Epic
If the subtitle threw you off, you must have missed that generational talent, English filmmaker Christopher Nolan (Dark Knight, Interstellar, Oppenheimer) announced his next project will be an adaptation of Homer’s The Odyssey.
Luckily for Italian director Uberto Pasolini, his take on the ancient novel is focused on what Nolan’s will probably avoid — human emotion.
Oops.
Don’t get me wrong, I imagine Nolan’s will be expansive and awe-inspiring and deafening, but I wonder if it will get at “the heart”. I wonder if it’ll even be set in ancient times. God knows it’s just as likely this “Odyssey” will take place in space, or via generations, rather than a direct adaptation.
For those not in the know, The Odyssey follows the ten year journey it takes Odysseus (Ralph Fiennes) to return home to his wife Penelope (Juliette Binoche), son, and dutiful old dog in Ithaca after fighting in the Trojan War (Homer’s The Iliad — Troy? Achilles? The Trojan Horse? Remember?). In the original text, he faces cyclops, sirens, mysterious gods on even more mysterious islands, and other obstacles. Here, in The Return, that is all baggage behind him, weighing him down with grief and guilt, and informing his behaviour as he attempts to return to life he had, only to find it fragmented, at risk of slipping away completely into the crystal blue sea — the island itself barely recognizes its hero. 10 years of myths, warped by game after game of broken telephone, erases Odysseus of his identifying features.
Pasolini, Fiennes, and Binoche take a magnifying glass to the end of the epic tale, and blow it up into a formidable interpersonal drama. The casting is inspired. Fiennes and Binoche are capable of dynamic subtelty, exactly what an adult, thoughtful take on the end of a fanciful if certainly philosphically insightful and exciting tale. Their characters’ eventual reunion is electric (spoiler alert, I guess, but if you didn’t see that coming, I mean, come on — right?)
Is The Return occasionally too dull? Too ruminative to be a successful mainstream movie? Too modest to hold the attention of the typical sword and sandals audience? Perhaps, but I wonder if that was ever really the goal. The three major players here don’t seem the type.
The film’s received mixed reviews, and that makes complete sense. Its plot is stylized, full of specific choices — choices that go against everyone’s first impression of what an Odyssey-related movie might be. I imagine those who know the legend, or know the actors, will be into it, and most passive fans, thinking they’re potentially seeing a Troy 2, will find it confusing and disappointing — but really…
Who better to navigate the complexly layered, interpersonal and fantastical historical moments of legend than these legendary actors?
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P.S. The setting alone makes this movie worth watching.
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‘The Return’ is out now.
Selected Movie Quote: “Your war isn’t at Troy now, it’s here.”
[Rating 3.5/5] - dir. Uberto Pasolini - 2024 - Italy/United Kingdom - R - 1h 56m - Historical Fantasy / Epic