The Odyssey

"The Odyssey", purportedly the work of the same man who wrote "The Iliad", is a long epic poem which is world-renowned as a tale of adventure. The greatness of this adaptation is that the ethical central character, Odysseus or 'Ulysses', King of Ithaca, is treated as the first man in history able to think rationally--to control his passions. The filmmakers do not spend more than a few minutes on the "Odysseys" background, the war by the ancient Argives' alliance against the city of Ilium or "Troy". The thrust of the piece is the wanderings undertaken by Ulysses AFTER he returns home safely from that war. His wife Penelope waits for him; his family never gives up. But meanwhile, even as his son grows, the kingdom's nobles grow bolder. They demand Penelope marry one of them, since they believe Ulysses is dead. By night, Penelope unweaves what she has woven of her wedding dress during daylight. The bulk of the film follows Ulysses on what amounts to a shipborne Cook's tour of fictionally-reworked famous ancient places about the Mediterraean, to confrontations with the man-eating Cyclops and his herd of sheep, with Circe the goddess who can transform men into swine, with the Lotos eaters and the Gulf of the world. This movie is a special-effects extravaganza with high-tech effects and a solid cast to back up the adventure by way of intelligent direction and good dialogue. The very large made-for-television epic was directed by Andrei Konchalovsky. Konchalovsky did the adaptation and Christopher Solimine the teleplay. The bright cinematography for a very long and colorful adventure was the work of Sergei Kopzlov, the original music composed by Eduard Artemyev; the elaborate set decorations were done by Kren Brooks, with costumes by Charles Knode. The outstanding production design was the achievement of Roger Hall. In the huge cast, Armand Assante seemed an intelligent Odysseus save that he lacked a classical speech training. Greta Scacchi was Penelope, Isaballa Rossellini Athena, Irene Papas Anticleia, and Jeroen Krabbe King Alcinous. Vanessa Williams played Calypso, Christopher Lee Tiresias, Bernadette Peters Circe and Geraldine Chaplin played Eurycleia. Many others enacted the parts of persons in the Trojan War, the suitors at Ithaca's court, assorted divinities and personages encountered by Odeysseus and his mates in the course of his ship's many adventures. Katie Carr was Nausicaa, who helped him when he was shipwrecked; and Alan Stenson portrayed Odysseus's son Telemcahus. From the Trojan sequences to the slaughter of the offending nobles by team-Ulysses, he in disguise using an ancient horn-bow only he could string to perform the deed, this is an exciting, eye-filling and well-planned cinematic adventure. It was a great surprise when it was offering among many mean-streets naturalistic films in 1997. Not to be missed.

Okay I first saw this movie when I was in 9th grade.We watched it after reading the book.I thought it was a pretty good movie from the start.The special effects were considerably good.Armand Assante played an Excellent Odysseus....I liked Armand's portrayal more than Sean Bean's (Troy).I love Greek mythology and I love this movie.I plan on buying it on DVD.The scene where the old man shoots the arrow through the loops to reveal Odysseus is amazing.Then he says "your crime is that you tried to steal my world" that part was awesome.I think if you are into Greek mythology you will like this movie.They show it on the sci-fi channel every once in a while so I think you should definitely check it out.Like it says in my summary....for a made for TV film it does pretty well.

I could make many easy criticisms of The Odyssey, but those criticisms would certainly feel unfair. What this production achieves is to give you full respect for what is being attempted here, and that if it fails to fully realise the story of Odysseus, it is not for want of trying but technological, budget and time restrictions.

Let me put those criticisms nevertheless, because you do want to know what you are getting into. Firstly, it's extremely condensed. The decade long Trojan War, the recruitment of Odysseus, the deaths of Hector and Achilles, the Trojan Horse - are all wrapped up in under 30 minutes in what isn't much more than a montage. Now - this is absolutely necessary in a 3 hour mini series but it does feel like opening the first Rocky movie with the training montage. You don't get to meet the characters as they start their journey - you just have to jump on board as they gallop towards the middle.

Additionally this means that many of the actors simply don't have time to build their characters, Odysseus' men are just a rowdy crowd of exchangeable faces with zero distinction between them except one plays the flute, one is fat, one is brave but foolhardy, one has a beard etc. It's a tough criticism because it's no one's fault without tripling the runtime, but unfortunately, watching them get picked off one by one leaves you feeling nothing. Both Odysseus and Penelope suffer as characters in the same way, even though they obviously get the most screentime, but it is absolute credit to Armand Assante and Greta Scacchi that with such threadbare time for character work until at least the final third of the film, they nevertheless create compelling and powerful performances. Other big name actors acquit themselves well. Some of the direction is contrived rather than natural for the same reason. The need to get across an idea in the time allowed, rather than to grow a scene naturally.

To my mind, the biggest problem is the sound design. It's one of those movies where it sounds like much of the location audio has been studio dubbed, whether it actually has been or not. It's really obvious when the scene switches from Calypso's island, back to Penelope and Telemachus. The sound for the latter picks up the atmosphere and acoustics of the location, whereas the former, the sound is overlaid and flat, with no feel for the location. It's really noticeable and is probably the biggest criticism that I would lay at the feet of the production as opposed to a constraint of the medium in which they are working.

The special effects are - of their time. And that time being when computer graphics were a tool rather than an art.

But I did get to a point where none of this mattered. What does matter is the ambition of the piece. It successfully manages to convey the epic nature of Odysseus' journey. You must approach it with the same attitude as you would with the book, with your imagination open and willing to use it to expand on what you are watching. It does as much justice to the epic as was likely possible at the time and is well worth seeking out.

I thoroughly enjoyed the book of the epic, which I read recently, and was pleasantly surprised to find this on video.

Obviously, there are significant omissions, edits and rewrites from the original - and quite long - text, not to mention the change to a standard timescale (rather than using constant flashbacks and anecdotes as in Homer's tale). Having said that, a surprising amount of detail did make it into this film, and the locations especially were almost all perfect - just as I'd imagined them. I even 'recognised' places before they were mentioned by name. Kudos to the production team.

Where the story is simplified, it is done carefully and logically, and leaves in virtually all of Odysseus's more fantastic adventures - dispensing with most of the hospitality, minor characters' subplots - Telemachus' journey is over in seconds - and (unfortunately) with any scenes on Mount Olympus. The net effect is of the story told entirely from Odysseus' viewpoint, while keeping an eye on events back at his palace in Ithaca.

I'll not go too far into the story - since that is why you'll be watching in the first place - but I will say that the special effects are mostly quite good, and don't detract in any way. Of the entire cast I only found Telemachus to be somewhat whiney & annoying, but you manage. Casting is generally very good (especially Calypso - wow).

If there is a problem with this film, it is that by cutting out so much of the rituals, travel and more complicated deceptions, it takes away much of the scale, grandeur and 'epic'ness of it all - while still taking 3 hours to watch. A lot of the ritual and repetition of the original text is actually a large part of its charm (as well as an entirely necessary story-telling mechanic), and I think it could be adapted in full if turned into a short series.

In summary, this is a decent version, but you'll get the most enjoyment out of this film if you've already read The Odyssey (which, as with most book/film adaptations, is significantly better). If you're thinking of watching this instead of reading The Odyssey - please don't. You'll have trouble getting into the text if you think you know what's coming next.

And for the cast & crew of this film - well done. I wish there were a bit more ambition amongst TV and film companies these days.

This is probably the best TV movie of all time. Odysseus is the perfect hero for the aging 1st world population, with his use of guile to triumph when strength is not enough. Despite the fact that one of my favorite parts of The Odyssey is left out, when Odysseus returns home after 20 years, his faithful pet Argus awaiting him, only to die after one greeting; I think this is an incredibly arresting film. Armand Assante is surprising terrific as Odysseus. He conveys with his expressions the depth of thought and emotion which characterized Odysseus. All the more amazing when one considers that Odysseus was an Achaean, a tall, fair race of people, though Odysseus was, himself, described by Homer as one of middle stature, for an Achaean, no doubt. This movie makes the tales of Homer seem more real than any film I have ever seen. The emotions of all are complex and real. The mutual love and devotion of Odysseus and Penelope are portrayed in a beautiful and believable way by the actors. The scene in which Odysseus returns to take back his kingdom is brutally and believably real. I cannot say enough good things about this movie. It should be required in the schools.