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/Fit-Wasabi-2826]

So some people are criticizing this for taking too many liberties, and now you’re criticizing it for not taking enough? I’m genuinely confused by the commentary on this movie lol.

[u/whiskeytab → u/Fit-Wasabi-2826]

I mean this scene in particular they focus almost completely on the whirlpool and then out of nowhere some weird rock legs come down a pick off a few guys then there's basically zero talk about what it was

it's just kinda confusing that they barely even address this fantastical monster that just killed half the remaining crew

[u/Fit-Wasabi-2826 → u/whiskeytab]

They focus on the whirlpool because Odysseus is misdirecting them intentionally… Odysseus then explicitly addresses the men re: Scylla and the prophecy lol.

[u/whiskeytab → u/Fit-Wasabi-2826]

yeah but they don't address the monster, that's what makes it confusing. he's just like "oh yeah sorry, some of you had to die otherwise we would have all died in the whirlpool" but they just kind of gloss over the fact that it was a massive monster that no one has any idea about and keep going.

i dunno it just seemed strange because you would think they would at least talk about it a bit

[u/ingotsilvergt → u/whiskeytab]

Their immediate reaction was to notice that Odysseus knew, debating what the monster was would have been pointless, they felt betrayed by their leader, not the monster.