Art Isn’t Meant To Recreate Reality: In Defense Of “The Odyssey”
Do you go in an art gallery or museum and criticize paintings or sculptures for not looking realistic enough? No, because you understand that art is an interpretation and often a warping of reality, rather than an attempt at recreating it.
Take Christopher Nolan’s The Odyssey for an example. Many hate it and even more love it, which tends to be the norm for a Nolan film. You shouldn’t go into that movie, or any other adaptation, expecting a hyper-realistic photograph of the source material. Instead, you should go in expecting to see a painting. That painting is brushed with the artist’s interpretative vision guiding the strokes, rather than a to-the-letter replica.
The details that a filmmaker like Nolan chooses to keep from the original Odyssey by Homer are stylistic choices. Omitting Matt Damon’s Odysseus from telling the cyclops “my name is Nobody” and then taunting him from his boat is an example and probably the right choice stylistically. I also think he was wise to leave out the part with the magical bag full of wind… that feels impossible to take from page to screen without it looking goofy.
Of course many keyboard warriors were up in arms that Helen of Troy, who never existed by the way, was played by a black woman. Lupita Nyong’o is an Oscar-winning actress and she also looked phenomenal as Helen (minus the scar) and her twin sister married to Agamemnon. But dudes on the internet hated it of course. She was also in the film for maybe three minutes total.
People also were bitching about Agamemnon’s armor but it was fucking HARD. It looked so cool. You know why I enjoyed it? Because I went to the movie as an enjoyer of art, not a pseudo-historian. God forbid Elliot Page is in the movie too, I guess. Even though they have a very strong acting resume, including Nolan’s Inception, and also played a small role with no more than five minutes on screen.
People should be talking about how awesome it was that Nolan shot the whole thing on 70mm IMAX cameras, and that everything you see used practical effects. Yes, even the pig sequence. The level of care towards every single detail in frame is truly noticeable throughout the entire movie. It is something that should be savored during your viewing experience, like you’re enjoying a five-course luxury meal.
In a time where Hollywood’s big-budget films are largely floundering, why are we attacking one of the few real auteurs left? Someone that actually has vision and a tangible style who shoots everything on location with built sets and practical effects? So much of what we watch is corporate slop with lazy CGI and no heart behind it. Other than a handful of other directors like Dune’s Denis Villeneuve, no one else is making blockbuster action films that can also be considered quality art.
Long story short, there are still a couple days left to see The Odyseey on 70mm IMAX. If there is a theater within driving distance from you, I promise it is worth the trip.