The Odyssey

My thoughts after seeing it twice.

At the last minute, Oscar, Flora June, Ben Blair, and I drove to the city of Caen on Friday night to see The Odyssey. One of the theaters there had a 9pm showing in V.O. which stands for Version Originale — meaning it was in English with French subtitles (instead of being dubbed into French, which is very common here).

The showing was basically sold out; we bought our tickets in the car on the way there, and the only spots left were in the first two rows. (It wasn’t the IMAX version, though I read the whole movie was shot in IMAX, so if you get the chance to see it in IMAX, I bet it’s worthwhile.) Then, last night, we realized there was a rare V.O. showing in the theater here in our town, and I went again just by myself — I was glad for the chance to see it a second time right away, knowing I missed some things the first time.

I keep thinking about the movie, and I’m loving the discussions it has prompted on social media. It makes me want to stop everything today and listen to Emily Wilson’s translation of the Odyssey, which I read was influential on director Christopher Nolan. (Speaking of which, my son Ralph said he just read Wilson’s translation in preparation for seeing the movie and that he really enjoyed it.)

Here are my initial thoughts on the movie:

[SPOILERS AHEAD!! STOP READING IF YOU HAVEN’T SEEN IT]