Books to Movies: Homer's Odyssey

From A-Z List 2, I chose Homer for "Books to Movies."

The issue: How well do sagas translate to film? 

A classic film will have an arc--conflict, rising action, climax, final wrap-up. The arc is possibly one reason superhero films have been so popular in the early twenty-first century. It isn't that filmmakers can't make rambling films about the purpose of life and people contemplating the nature of string. But a movie is a narrow event, which means something should happen.

Odyssey with Armand Assante as Odysseus has a number of positive factors. Assante's Odysseus captures the character's almost modern disdain for his fellow leaders' vainglorious strutting (the attitude exists in the poem), his desire to remain home, his leadership capabilities, and his half-respectful/half-conman relationship with the gods, including the goddess Athena.

The problem is tone. The action sequences are quite good--but the switch back and forth between Odysseus and Penelope makes the events less adventure tales and more a series of acts of incredible misfortune--and the original epic never struck me that way.

 

Moreover, the series suffers from an investment issue. A text--even a told story--can operate somewhat differently. The audience can be told that only Odysseus is left standing and shrug at the idea. Whatever. But a movie gets viewers to care about Odysseus's scooby-gang...who all eventually die. 

 

The point where everyone died was when I ceased to care about the outcome (which I already knew, of course). Assante holds the series together through charisma and strong acting. But the script portrays him as a hero rather than a survivor--and a hero who can't get his crew home isn't much of one. 

 

My thoughts while watching: Since the script skipped 10 years at Troy, why not just skip the 10-year voyage? Why go through the motions of getting us to care about the team and then dispose of them all? If the focus is Odysseus, why not skip forward to the part where he returns home and gets rid of the suitors? 

 

In fact, Wishbone's version starts the story with Odysseus's escape from Calypso, precisely emphasizing the story of Odysseus retaking his home. The related Joe & friends arc seems a bit of a stretch but ultimately both parts emphasize taking back one's home turf. I had to wonder if the original Homer (some scholars now believe that Homer was a title given to multiple poets) created a homecoming story and others kept adding on bits!

 

Of course, there is O Brother Where Aren't Thou, which combines saga and a narrative arc excellently. For one, it doesn't pretend it is doing anything else. It is a shaggy dog story, a homage to 1930s Americana music and settings, a comedy (definitely). Stephen Root shows up--what more needs to be said?! 

 

Most importantly, Odysseus--Clooney's Everett--is perfect. He IS what I imagine Odysseus to be: "Silver-tongued" (as the DVD cover states), level-headed, skeptical, a tad vain ("How's my hair?!), problem-solving, vaguely amoral, opportunistic, extroverted...less the hero-type and more the bargaining type. And he has an ex-wife who, like Penelope undoing her weaving, keeps her rather slippery ex-husband at arms' length. 

 

Not to forget Pete as a toad!