Funny, Richard, you landed at the same absent core of the Odysseus story as my sons and I did when we finally saw the Nolan film last night. "Nobody" was nowhere to be found. What a missed opportunity! As was the way Odysseus and his men ultimately escaped from the cave. Apart from the somnific wine they cleverly offered him, they tie themselves beneath individual sheep with rope while Odysseus himself, being the last of the lot, has to hang on for dear life underneath the biggest sheep of the flock by sheer force of willpower and muscle as the Cyclops blindly feels and flails as the sheep shuffle out. I remember being impressed by that Odysseus feat more than anything else when I first read the Odyssey those decades ago. Easy for a non filmmaker to say, especially one who believes almost 3 hours is beyond pushing the limit. Maybe he could have made a trilogy instead, to cover more bases more "accurately"...
All told, notwithstanding the many shortcomings, it's good to get people, especially young people, thinking of the greatest story of all time again.
Agree @Alexis Ludwig The trick of escaping with the sheep is brilliant. I thought Nolan’s device of strapping some fleece on the backs of the Greeks was by contrast pretty lame. You’re right about the value of a new generation encountering this great classic.
Funny, Richard, you landed at the same absent core of the Odysseus story as my sons and I did when we finally saw the Nolan film last night. "Nobody" was nowhere to be found. What a missed opportunity! As was the way Odysseus and his men ultimately escaped from the cave. Apart from the somnific wine they cleverly offered him, they tie themselves beneath individual sheep with rope while Odysseus himself, being the last of the lot, has to hang on for dear life underneath the biggest sheep of the flock by sheer force of willpower and muscle as the Cyclops blindly feels and flails as the sheep shuffle out. I remember being impressed by that Odysseus feat more than anything else when I first read the Odyssey those decades ago. Easy for a non filmmaker to say, especially one who believes almost 3 hours is beyond pushing the limit. Maybe he could have made a trilogy instead, to cover more bases more "accurately"...
All told, notwithstanding the many shortcomings, it's good to get people, especially young people, thinking of the greatest story of all time again.
Agree @Alexis Ludwig The trick of escaping with the sheep is brilliant. I thought Nolan’s device of strapping some fleece on the backs of the Greeks was by contrast pretty lame. You’re right about the value of a new generation encountering this great classic.