Hod Hasharon, ISRAEL – Christopher Nolan has done it again with the movie The Odyssey, and I believe this film, just like his previous ones, deserves to count as a work of art.
Listen to the author read this review:
I’ve seen most of the movies that came out this year, and none of them work the way this film does.
The cinematography, even though it scared me at first because of how futuristic it looks, is stunning. Nolan used a special camera, found ways to work with it and move it to make the viewers feel like they’re fighting and struggling along with the characters, whether against people or against the forces of nature.
The movie is about the journey of Odysseus [Matt Damon,] in which he finds mythical creatures such as the Cyclops and the sirens, trying to get back to his home in Ithaka after the Trojan War, while his son Telemachus [Tom Holland] and his wife Penelope [Anne Hathaway], the queen, try to mourn Odysseus while having to choose between hundreds of suitors for the next king.
The cast is full of talented actors, such as Hathaway, Damon, Holland, Robert Pattinson and Zendaya.
Damon gave a beautiful performance portraying both the strong, smart, and young Odysseus and the old, broken, and confused Odysseus.
Hathaway was born to play a queen, as she already had in the Princess Diaries, and she suits the mother role as well, with a third baby on the way in real life.
Another actor that I was really happy to see was Elliot Page, who played Sinon. I used to watch him a lot when he starred in the movies Juno and Inception. After undergoing gender-affirming surgery and announcing himself as male, he stepped back from acting, so to finally see him again on the big screen – and the first person we see in the movie – made me really excited, and I hope this will lead to more projects in the future.
The movie was a lot different than the other recent films. The lighting was dark in Telemachus’ and Penelope’s scenes, so the actors’ faces were lit by the orange light of the fires, while in Odysseus’ scenes there was sunlight or the fires from the war, to show the difference between the feeling of Odysseus and of Telemachus.
I also loved the moments of complete silence. In one part of the movie, Odysseus decided to tie himself to the boat to hear the sirens sing, and in that moment, all I wanted was to hear the sirens singing, but no one has heard them and come back alive, so there was silence, and all I saw on screen was Odysseus screaming, what made me feel like I’m a part of the scene.
The Odyssey tells the story in the best way possible, and I suggest going to see it now in the cinema so you’ll know the movie that will be talked about for the entire year.
Noga Segal is a Reporter with Youth Journalism International.
