‘The Odyssey’ translator Emily Wilson rips ‘abysmal’ Christopher Nolan film
“The Odyssey” translator Emily Wilson is not a fan of Christopher Nolan’s big-screen adaptation.
Wilson trashed the film in her review for the London Review of Books, which was published Monday and titled, “I would be ashamed to have written any part of this.”
In the piece, Wilson — the first woman to translate Homer’s epic poem — said Nolan’s movie “has nothing convincing to say” and “lacks psychological, emotional, political and ethical depth.”
“Nolan’s Odyssey lacks many of the elements that make the poem great,” she wrote. “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, who is a professor of classical studies at the University of Pennsylvania, said she had expectations that Nolan’s “affinity” for Odysseus’ story “might push him to new creative heights, and enable him to conjure more believable characters”
Instead, Nolan’s adaptation “features his usual combination of grandiosity and superficiality,” Wilson penned.
She also complained that the blockbuster film “is too confused, its characters too underdeveloped, to deliver what it half-promises in terms of big ideas.”
“I would be ashamed to have written any part of this script,” Wilson added.
Wilson also attacked the film in an interview with the Sunday Times, saying, “It didn’t land emotionally for me at all. Which I think is partly about the fact that, unlike Homer, it’s not very well written.”
“The characters don’t have the kind of depth the Homeric characters have,” she continued. “I felt, ‘Do I really care if this guy gets back to his wife?’ You haven’t given me any reason to.”
Page Six has reached out to Nolan’s rep for comment.
The criticisms come after Nolan, 55, was complimentary of Wilson and her translation during the press tour for “The Odyssey.”
The filmmaker told Empire magazine last year he used Wilson’s opening line of her translation, “Tell me about a complicated man,” as inspiration for his vision of the movie.
“The genius of the character, the cleverness, the inventiveness of him, that was a huge part of what interested me,” Nolan said. “He’s not just a soldier. He’s an amazing strategist, a very wily person.”
“The Odyssey,” starring Matt Damon, Anne Hathaway, Tom Holland, Zendaya, Robert Pattinson and Elliot Page, has received rave reviews from critics, earning a 94% rating on Rotten Tomatoes.
It’s also become one of the biggest movies of the year, grossing over $650 million globally in its first two weekends.
The film has, however, received some criticism for its more contemporary, modern dialogue and “woke” casting decisions.
“The Odyssey” is in theaters now.
