Christopher Nolan will likely not want to meet his hero.
The blockbuster filmmaker cited one woman's specific translation months ago as a source of inspiration for his adaptation of "The Odyssey," but those remarks have completely backfired now that the author has seen Nolan's film.
'The writing is abysmal. None of the characters has convincing motivation for their actions or words.'
'Nothing convincing'
Nolan told Empire magazine in November how much he loved Emily Wilson's 2017 translation of the historic text.
"I think it's the Emily Wilson translation that begins, 'Tell me about a complicated man,'" Nolan recalled. "The genius of the character, the cleverness, the inventiveness of him, that was a huge part of what interested me. He's not just a soldier. He's an amazing strategist, a very wily person."
Despite the flattering citation, Nolan's adoration was not reciprocated by Wilson at all, who burned his adaptation at the stake in a 4,000-word review.
In a lengthy reaction titled "An Uncomplicated Man," Wilson eloquently pummeled the film for being noisy, emotionless, and poorly written.
Wilson said the film lacked many of the elements that make a poem great, while having "nothing convincing" to say about the history, war, or relationships of the time.
"It lacks psychological, emotional, political, and ethical depth," Wilson detailed. "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."
Wilson then directly addressed Nolan's reference to her translation, before bluntly stating, "I would be ashamed to have written any part of this script."
RELATED: Christopher Nolan’s ‘Odyssey’ is peak Hollywood elitist: ‘He’s so snooty’
Noise complaint
Despite audiences complaining about the casting of the film — which included a woman (Elliot Page) playing a pivotal male role — viewers still came out in droves to help Nolan continue his pursuit of keeping movie theaters alive and well.
"The Odyssey" released to a whopping $123 million domestic opening, earning over $650 million worldwide to date. This, off of a $250 million budget.
However, all the praise in the world could not save Nolan from the scathing review offered by his inspiration, who said she could not escape the noise of the film "without a tub of wax for my ears."
"I was exposed to the full din of thumping sticks, staffs, swords and clashing armour, thunderbolts, crashing waves, grunts, screams, toppling palaces, and burning temples," Wilson wrote, continuing a theme of describing the film as an audible assault.
She continued, comparing the film to "an elaborate Fourth of July fireworks display — and with about the same level of narrative and emotional depth."
RELATED: America needs heroes who do not apologize for being heroes
Bang for your buck
Wilson did find room at the end of her review to praise the film's release for making the source material popular again and for "bringing audiences back to cinemas."
She wrote that it was still an event to celebrate which has resulted in translations of the story, including her own, "flying off the shelves." Still, this was after she labeled the movie an underdeveloped piece of art that failed to deliver.
"The film's vision is too confused, its characters too underdeveloped, to deliver what it half-promises in terms of big ideas — although it is very good at conveying big bangs and big giants."
Like Blaze News? Bypass the censors, sign up for our newsletters, and get stories like this direct to your inbox. Sign up here!
Continue reading...
[H/T Blaze Media]
