The Odyssey

I have so much to say about this it’s actually insane. Basically I went to cinema WITHOUT high expectations, since I genuinely believed that this would be a typical mainstream movie with an overrated cast and overused cliches. But as the film developed I realized that it was not only enjoyable, yet also actually interesting and partially emotional, which is unusual in Nolan’s movies for me. I will not lie and say that Chris Nolan is not my favorite director, because I find his films somehow soulless. Even Interstellar (which is considered to be quite emotional) did not do it for me. I find it a typical film bro movie with great cinematography but somehow shallow characters. I love The Prestige because of its iconic vibe and also Inception because of its complexity. However they all lack something in my viewpoint. This film lacks something to, I suppose a more artistic viewpoint of the plot. Especially when directing a mythological piece, the character complexity must be on another level. It should be artistic and Jean Cocteau Orpheus kind. And yet still when I think of it, Nolan is not a Cocteau type of director. He is more scientific , focusing more on the material than idealistic so to speak. So perhaps the issue is not him but just my preference of the genre in general. After comprehending this, I found the film much more appealing and interesting. Though I still have some issues: 1. The female characters lack the complexity completely. Not only in The Odyssey but generally in his films. Yes Anne Hathaway had an emotional raging kind of moment, yet it was not enough. For example in Lord of the Rings there are only 3 female characters, but they are somehow very much complete, which I can not say about Nolan’s pieces. 2. Speaking as the most anti racist person, racism goes both ways and having a black actor play a person who is supposed to be white is same as letting Brad Pitt play Nelson Mandela, which is weird and wrong. I do understand the point and somehow the need to break those traditions, yet a historical movie needs to be completed historically.  3. The overused actors thing is quite disturbing to me. I can’t stand the same actor playing in several mainstream movies in a year. It makes me lose the image of the character somehow and I don’t know if that’s only me. What I LOVED: 1. Rob Pattinson (smash) 2. Matt Damon’s acting which literally deserves an Oscar 3. Accuracy to the plot and only changing the plot in a way that doesn’t disturb the plot of the book. 4. Obviously the cinematography because oh my goodness everything was gorgeous. 5. It was not overly bloody and violent, as other war films. It was not pure gore and that I appreciate very much. 6. The ending was WOW  Though I still prefer Troy over this film, it was still great. I thought I’d dislike it but I don’t. Probably my N1 or N2 favorite film of Nolan.