Several people commented that the film is not faithful to Homer's epic poem. This is certainly a problem, especially when omissions make the story difficult to follow. (Why did Odysseus say to the Cyclops: "My name is nobody"? The line is included in the film, but the punchline of the joke isn't.)
Of course, we cannot expect a film to include everything in the book, some parts must be left out. (But why the poor sirens? They are one of the few parts everyone knows about the Odyssey.) Such parts merely bother the few who have read the original and expect the director to be faithful to it; others might not even notice omissions or goofs. (Here's one for you: Achilles' body is laid out, covered in wounds and scars. However, anyone who's read the Iliad knows that Achilles could only be wounded at his heel.) Nor should we be particular about geographical detail, such as the fact that Pamukkale (the place that features as Calypso's island) is in fact hundreds of miles from the sea.
What we can expect and what I did expect was some faithfulness to the original message and to historical detail. Neither can be said about this film. Odysseus (the original) is not a Hollywood-type muscular hero but a cunning guy whose cleverness and sense of humor, rather than strength gets him out of difficult situations. Here you hardly get any of this. Actually, his men have more likable characters than he does. The clever tricks I enjoyed about the epic are missing almost completely.
Those who want to find about ancient Greek culture are led astray even more. The costumes are ridiculous: warriors wear underpants and one of the servant girls a long-sleeved blouse. It is also quite unlikely that Odysseus was present at his son's birth, given that in traditional cultures men were forbidden to go near a woman in labor for fear of bringing a curse on her. The forms of displaying affection or Penelope's masturbation with the sea waves are also things I find hard to imagine at the time. My 2 points go to spectacular scenes and landscapes, and some of the acting. (Not Armand Assante's.) Still, I wish filmmakers would keep from turning every literary work, even ones from different ages and cultures, into a tacky Hollywood 'you can achieve anything'-success story.
Of course, we cannot expect a film to include everything in the book, some parts must be left out. (But why the poor sirens? They are one of the few parts everyone knows about the Odyssey.) Such parts merely bother the few who have read the original and expect the director to be faithful to it; others might not even notice omissions or goofs. (Here's one for you: Achilles' body is laid out, covered in wounds and scars. However, anyone who's read the Iliad knows that Achilles could only be wounded at his heel.) Nor should we be particular about geographical detail, such as the fact that Pamukkale (the place that features as Calypso's island) is in fact hundreds of miles from the sea.
What we can expect and what I did expect was some faithfulness to the original message and to historical detail. Neither can be said about this film. Odysseus (the original) is not a Hollywood-type muscular hero but a cunning guy whose cleverness and sense of humor, rather than strength gets him out of difficult situations. Here you hardly get any of this. Actually, his men have more likable characters than he does. The clever tricks I enjoyed about the epic are missing almost completely.
Those who want to find about ancient Greek culture are led astray even more. The costumes are ridiculous: warriors wear underpants and one of the servant girls a long-sleeved blouse. It is also quite unlikely that Odysseus was present at his son's birth, given that in traditional cultures men were forbidden to go near a woman in labor for fear of bringing a curse on her. The forms of displaying affection or Penelope's masturbation with the sea waves are also things I find hard to imagine at the time. My 2 points go to spectacular scenes and landscapes, and some of the acting. (Not Armand Assante's.) Still, I wish filmmakers would keep from turning every literary work, even ones from different ages and cultures, into a tacky Hollywood 'you can achieve anything'-success story.