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christopher no no
'Abysmal writing' and 'no sex': Odyssey translator's scathing review of Christopher Nolan film
Emily Wilson said she would be ‘ashamed’ to have written any part of the script for Christopher Nolan’s epic.
A PROMINENT BRITISH-AMERICAN translator whose work on translating Odyssey was cited by director Christopher Nolan in publicity for his new film has written a scathing review of the adaptation.
Emily Wilson’s 2017 translation of Odyssey was the first complete translation in English published by a woman.
In an essay for the London Review of Books, Wilson picks apart Nolan’s screen interpretation of the Homer poem, taking issue with what she described as its unresolved juxtapositions, its lack of characterisation of female characters, and its approach to violence and war.
In Wilson’s essay, she said she was “humbled” to learn that Nolan has read at least the first line of her translation of the ancient Greek epic, something he has cited in interviews.
“But I would be ashamed to have written any part of this script,” she continued.
She said the film lacks many of the elements that make the poem great, with a lack of depth, and “nothing convincing” to say about time, memory, history, war or the relationship between Odysseus and the lives of those around him.
“Its narrative structure is gimmicky. The writing is abysmal. None of the characters has convincing motivation for their actions or words. There are no sex scenes, and all the food looks horrible.”
The translator wrote that while some people took issue with the race-neutral casting, her take was “there is nothing progressive about it”.
“Most of the non-white actors – Zendaya, Lupita Nyong’o, Himesh Patel, Corey Antonio Hawkins, Travis Scott – play versions of the Black best friend, whose only role in the drama is to provide aid to the white protagonist.”
The wider role of the female characters in the film was also described as bland in comparison to the source material.
Wilson wrote that “Nolan’s Penelope has no dreams” and “the script gives her nothing to do except yearn for Matt Damon, for reasons unknown”.
Nolan’s dialogue was also described in scathing terms, while his maximalist approach to scenes of war and violence drew comparisons to Lord of the Rings and Game of Thrones.
“The film asks us both to be horrified at war and to celebrate the action-movie sequences in which the reluctant warrior finally gets his hands on his bow and the blood starts flowing.”
Parts of the film were shot in the occupied territory of Western Sahara, something Wilson described as “troubling”, combined with the film’s approach of redeeming a hero of a territorial war.
In her conclusion, she noted that Nolan’s $250 million film has brought people back to cinemas, and its prominence has prompted people to purchase translations of the epic and nurtured interest in ancient Greek literature.
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