I was almost upset that I felt compelled to watch The Odyssey in IMAX 70mm. I saw Oppenheimer this way and was very disappointed. I suspected this one would be the same and decided not to go. Then I watched a positive review from a trusted source and got FOMO!
Well, my initial hunch was not wrong. I was fairly disappointed, but still enjoyed much of the film and didn’t regret seeing it. Celluloid film projected on a big screen has beauty in its texture that’s almost tactile. Shapes and focus have a roundness, I’d call it, compared to the sharpness of digital images. It was so pleasant to watch.
The film had many visually stunning moments – the cyclops, the Laestrygonians, king Agamemnon’s armor, the molding of Odysseus’ men into pigs by Circe. However, the story sense and the pacing didn’t satisfy me. I was either working hard to make sense of the information presented, or I was bored, checked out, occasionally even with my eyes closed (during fight scenes) waiting for the score to change. The flow, the mark of a good narrative that guides the viewer’s attention, that makes him comfortable in a story, makes him identify with and feel for the characters, surprises and delights him, was in my opinion just poorly executed.
I don’t want to be a harsh critic. Making any film is a very difficult undertaking, and making this one is tremendously so. I’m glad the film was made, and I saw it. I think it is a necessary film for today. Most interestingly for me, I am surprised how ancient and familiar imagery was emptied of its original meaning and completely remade into a story of our time and our sensibility.
I realize this is not a new phenomenon, but it hit me with clarity and force to what great extent art images get reinterpreted by successive cultures. It gave me a new avenue for consideration in my art study. I will continue my thoughts in the next post.
Art and the Invisible 