The 70-Year Journey Home: The best film adaptations of The Odyssey before Nolan's Film

The premiere of Christopher Nolan's Odyssey is just days away. The film, which will premiere in Russia on July 23, will be the director's first ever appeal to ancient literature and is already considered one of the most anticipated film projects of the year. The film stars Matt Damon, Tom Holland, Anne Hathaway, Zendaya, Robert Pattinson, Charlize Theron, Lupita Nyong'o and Jon Bernthal. While the audience is waiting for a new interpretation of Homer's immortal poem, Izvestia has collected five of the most famous adaptations and films inspired by the Odyssey, which will help refresh the plot or look at it from a new angle.

Ulysses (1954): the first large-scale film adaptation of the poem

One of the first large-scale attempts to bring Homer's Odyssey to the big screen was the film Ulysses, which premiered in 1954. The film, co-produced by Italy and the USA, was directed by Mario Camerini, and the main role was played by Kirk Douglas, who by that time had already secured the status of one of the main Hollywood stars. Anthony Quinn and Rossana Podesta starred with him in the film, as well as Silvana Mangano, who played two heroines at once — Penelope and Circe.

The creators were quite free with the original source, but they retained the most recognizable episodes of Odysseus' journey: the meeting with Cyclops Polyphemus, sirens, the sorceress Circe and the return to Ithaca. For the mid-1950s, the film was considered a very expensive and technically difficult production, and its large-scale sets and special effects became one of the benchmarks of the peplum genre.

The film received mostly positive reviews from critics, who especially noted the charismatic performance of Kirk Douglas and the entertainment of the production. Over time, Ulysses acquired the status of a classic film adaptation of ancient literature and had a significant impact on subsequent films about ancient Greek myths.

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Odyssey (1997): the version that is called the closest to the original

For those who want to get acquainted with the plot of Homer's poem, critics most often recommend the mini-series "Odyssey", shot by Andrei Konchalovsky for the NBC television channel. The project was released in 1997 in the format of two full-length episodes with a total duration of about three hours.

The main role was played by Armand Assante, and he was accompanied by Isabella Rossellini, Greta Scacchi, Christopher Lee, Geraldine Chaplin and Irene Papas. The authors tried to reproduce the main events of the poem in as much detail as possible — from the departure of Odysseus after the Trojan War to his long return home through the island of Cyclopes, sirens, Scylla and Charybdis and the possession of the nymph Calypso.

The miniseries received high ratings from viewers and was warmly received by critics for its careful treatment of the literary source. In addition, the project was awarded the Emmy Award for Best Visual Effects. Even after almost three decades, this particular film adaptation is considered by many to be the most successful attempt to bring Homer's classic poem to the screen.

"Oh, Where Are You, Brother?" (2000): An Odyssey from the Great Depression

Perhaps the most unusual interpretation of Homer's poem is considered to be the Cohen brothers' film "Oh, Where are You, Brother?", released in 2000. Instead of Ancient Greece, the action was moved to the American state of Mississippi during the Great Depression, and the place of Odysseus was taken by the escaped prisoner Ulysses Everett McGill, played by George Clooney. John Turturro, Tim Blake Nelson, John Goodman and Holly Hunter starred with him.

Although the film does not literally retell the poem, it is easy to recognize familiar motifs in it: the one-eyed salesman Big Dan becomes a kind of analogue of the cyclops Polyphemus, three singing girls by the river refer to sirens, and the long way home to his wife resembles Odysseus' journey to Ithaca. At the same time, the Cohen brothers turned the ancient Greek epic into an ironic musical tragicomedy with elements of a road movie.

The film was warmly received by critics and viewers. They particularly appreciated the script, the acting and the soundtrack, which later won a Grammy Award and became one of the best-selling albums of the year. Today, "Oh, Where are You, Brother?" is regularly included in the lists of the best modern films inspired by the Odyssey.

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"Cold Mountain" (2003): A story of return without mythical monsters

At first glance, Anthony Minghella's film "Cold Mountain" has nothing to do with ancient Greek myths. However, many film critics call it one of the most successful modern interpretations of The Odyssey. The main character, soldier Inman, played by Jude Law, goes home to his beloved Ada (Nicole Kidman) after the hard battles of the American Civil War, overcoming dozens of dangers and meeting a wide variety of people.

Renee Zellweger, Philip Seymour Hoffman, Natalie Portman, Donald Sutherland and Brendan Gleeson starred in the film along with Jude Law and Nicole Kidman. It was the role of Ruby that earned Zellweger the Academy Award for Best Supporting Actress.

Upon release, the film received seven Academy Award nominations and was generally well received by critics. Although there are no cyclopes, gods, or sirens, the central theme remains the same as in Homer, the long and difficult journey of a man home after the war.

"The Return of Odysseus" (2024): a realistic look at the last chapters of the poem

The most recent film adaptation of Homer's work today is considered to be the film "The Return of the Odyssey", which premiered in 2024. It was directed by Uberto Pasolini and starred Ralph Fiennes and Juliette Binoche, who reunited on screen almost three decades after working on The English Patient.

Unlike most previous film adaptations, the film practically does not show Odysseus' travels. The story begins after his return to Ithaca, where Penelope, his grown-up son Telemachus, and the suitors who claim power are waiting for the hero. The creators deliberately abandoned mythological creatures and magic, focusing on the psychological drama of a man who has been changed by years of war.

The film received mostly positive reviews from critics, especially for the acting of Fiennes and Binoche, as well as for trying to show a familiar story as realistically as possible. Many reviewers call the picture a good opportunity to recall the final part of the Odyssey before the release of Christopher Nolan's version, which is expected to offer its own interpretation of the famous epic.

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