Perhaps you’ve heard, there’s a new version of The Odyssey on screen. Yet two years ago, this chamber version (just the last act, ‘Return to Ithaca’) flew by with a token theatrical release and nary a ripple on the cultural Zeitgeist. Pity. In its own way, it’s very good. We open as Ralph Fiennes’ Odysseus washes ashore at his old stomping grounds, much worse for twenty-year’s wear and naked as the day he was born. (Nearly naked & distressed the fashion in Ithaca so he fits right in.) Rather than announce himself, the former leader, and already legendary victor at Troy, stealthily takes stock of the situation on his island. Faithful wife Penelope (Juliette Binoche sporting Julia Roberts’ profile & considerably more acting chops) anxiously fending off hunky/premature/avaricious suitors; abandoned son Telemachus (Charlie Plummer) having Daddy issues; the island at a standstill. Situational baggage barely clearing the dramatic bar under inexperienced director Uberto Pasolini.* But as Odysseus is successively recognized, complications (personal & public) kick in to move things along and cover a host of unforced filmmaking errors. By climax, Fiennes has bulked up to rather amazing (and believable) action-figure form. Return of the Trickster? The film, no mere addendum, but a worthy thing of its own.
ATTENTION MUST BE PAID/DOUBLE-BILL/LINK: *Director Uberto Pasolini (more active as producer) is related to a famous Italian director, just not the one you’re thinking of. He’s Luchino Visconti’s nephew. Though that other Pasolini’s take on ancient Greek tragedy in MEDEA would make an interesting followup. https://maksquibs.blogspot.com/2012/03/medea-1969.html
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