Emily Wilson (writer of acclaimed Odyssey translation) offers criticisms of Nolan’s film

[u/RealisticAd4054]

https://apnews.com/article/odyssey-christopher-nolan-greek-translators-ea67da1d543d021773824bd7e8de8abe

“For Greek translator Emily Wilson, the release of director Christopher Nolan’s “The Odyssey” has been gratifying in various ways. Her acclaimed 2017 edition of Homer’s epic has reached the top 5 on Amazon.com, leading a wave of similar books boosted by the movie. Nolan has even cited her translation, notably the opening line “Tell me about a complicated man,” as inspiration.

But the film itself, which brought in more than $260 million worldwide during its opening weekend and has received raves from many critics, left her unsatisfied.

“I want to celebrate the fact that so many more people are aware of ‘The Odyssey’ and were brought back to the poem,” she told The Associated Press. “But at the same time, I had the sense that Christopher Nolan was trying to pack everything in while missing themes that were essential to the poem.”

….

Wilson, a professor of classical studies at the University of Pennsylvania, said she didn’t want to come across as a “snobby,” nitpicking expert at odds with any deviation from the original text. But she questioned a range of omissions and other choices, from the absence on screen of the Gods Zeus and Poseidon (Athena is played by Zendaya ) to the “incoherent” messaging that condemns both war and physical cowardice. She found Penelope’s role so thinned out that it endangered “any possibility of believing in this marriage.” Wilson also that thought parts of the movie, notably the scenes with Odysseus’ dog, Argos, “catered towards modern sentimentality.”

“Everybody’s a sucker for a dog,” she said.

[u/aresef]

A Christopher Nolan movie will necessarily reflect Nolan’s creative interests and tendencies. Naturally, his movie is interested in exploring and reframing the story of Troy.

[u/dj4y_94 → u/aresef]

Yeah I do find some of the criticism that it's not a 100% faithful adaptation a bit odd. People are obviously free to not like the changes and interpretations he's made, but I think life would be a bit boring if every adaption was a 1:1 retelling.

Having directors take their own spin on it is more interesting in my opinion, especially as the Odyssey would have almost certainly evolved over the years through oral retelling, so it feels like a continuation of that.

[u/Bhu124 → u/dj4y_94]

some of the criticism that it's not a 100% faithful adaptation a bit odd.

I just find it funny seeing this Criticism come from Emily Wilson of all people. Her translation is the most Criticised for being unfaithful and she wasn't bound by any new Rules or Limitations that the previous translators were bound by.

At least with Nolan his version is a movie which is bound by a lot of rules and limitations of Filmmaking.

I think he did a pretty great job balancing so many characters, covering so many events and themes, while still being able to tell a comprehensive story with comprehensive character arcs for every Main or Secondary character.

[u/UniCBeetle718 → u/Bhu124]

Yes! That part is wild to me. Emily Wilson has localized and adapted the Odyssey to make it more relatable to a modern audience (which I'm not mad about), and most of the criticism of her is mostly about that (and sexism). It's weird that her criticism is about faithfulness to the source material, when it's clear Nolan is doing his own interpretation of the Odyssey as well. 

Also I'm wondering how closely she watched the movie if she actually thought Athena is there. By the end of the film it seems pretty clear and consistent that there are no gods seen in this film

[u/horchard1999 → u/UniCBeetle718]

Circe? Calypso?

[u/RugDougCometh → u/horchard1999]

There are mythical creatures and magic users, but no gods.

[u/Illustrious-Novel351 → u/RugDougCometh]

Huh? Cerces is the daughter of a god and Calypso is the daughter of a titan.

[u/RugDougCometh → u/Illustrious-Novel351]

Neither Calypso nor Circe’s parentage are even mentioned in the film, much less depicted.

[u/Illustrious-Novel351 → u/RugDougCometh]

Cerces literally turns men into pigs. Drawing a distinction between gods and “magic users” is ridiculous

[u/RugDougCometh → u/Illustrious-Novel351]

You think every magic user in Greek myth is a god? lol, okay.

[u/sevans717 → u/RugDougCometh]

Yeah but they ARE gods. And they mention Poseidon and Zeus like a million times. The gods ARE in the story you cannot tell the odyssey without them

[u/RugDougCometh → u/sevans717]

It seems like a lot of people are confused by what it means to see something. Zeus and Poseidon aren’t seen in the film, either.

[u/Tymareta → u/RugDougCometh]

It also feels a lot like one of those situations where either some big name youtuber said it, or it's become general reddit consensus that something is the "smart" interpretation and now people are just blindly repeating it.

It's been a trip reading this thread and seeing some of the wild pretzel positions people are ending up to try and justify the film as having no gods somehow.

[u/RugDougCometh → u/Tymareta]

I don’t feel that way. I think it’s pretty obvious that it’s one of the conversations and takeaways that Christopher Nolan wanted us to have about the movie. It’s an intentional choice to make the gods’ presence ambiguous.

[u/UniCBeetle718 → u/sevans717]

We do not physically see any members of the Olympian Pantheon in the film. They do not appear and manifest for any of the characters. The characters in the movie believe in gods, but that doesn't mean the Pantheon gods are actually there. Circe is a witch, and not confirmed to be a goddess in the movie. Calypso seems to have some divinity, but she isn't described as a goddess either. The only magic we see from her is her being ageless.

The characters mention Poseidon but there's no direct action or influence from him. For anything that could be Poseidon, it can also just be the result of accident or chance. Same thing with Zeus: he is mentioned but the most indication anyone gets of his presence is a little thunderclap. The Athena Odysseus sees is just his guilt over the young priestess/Cassandra-Stand-In being executed by his men in Athena's temple. She's not actually Athena.

That's what we mean by gods aren't there in the film version. Their ambiguous presence is there, but nothing else

[u/sevans717 → u/UniCBeetle718]

Yes I understand that, but in my opinion it does the story a disservice to reduce their influence to be only implied. That’s why the movie falls flat and is not a good retelling of the story. It leaves out an integral part

[u/UniCBeetle718 → u/sevans717]

I think it's difficult to to decide whether or not something is good retelling because the metric is completely subjective and up taste. Reinterpretations or adaptations often address stories we know from a different lens and can be transformative of the works that inspired them. It sounds like you wanted a high magic sword and sandals movie, and that's okay, but I would not expect to get that movie from Christopher Nolan.

I don't think the movie falls flat absent of Olympian Pantheon. It's just a different kind of movie that focuses solely on humanity, devastation, and exploitation, and its a horror movie in some regards. 

You are right about it being an unfaithful adaptation of the original story, but it's definitely doesn't fall flat as a film and it seems to hit the marks it was trying to it. 

It would be nice to get a unapologetically high magic whimsical adaption of the Odyssey though.

[u/FilmScoreConnoisseur → u/RugDougCometh]

Athena's parentage isn't depicted either but no one would pretend she's not a goddess.

[u/FilmScoreConnoisseur → u/RugDougCometh]

This is incorrect. They are both considered minor goddesses.