Credit: Universal Pictures

The Odyssey translator Emily Wilson is not a fan of Christopher Nolan‘s latest film, despite the fact that the film is currently breaking box office records around the world.

If you don’t know, Nolan has said that he used Wilson‘s 2017 translation as inspiration for the Homer epic, but Wilson actually called the writing “abysmal.” She went further and said “none of the characters has convincing motivation for their actions or words.” She also said she would have been “ashamed to have written any part of this script.”

Specifically, she wrote in a review for the London Review of Books: “Nolan’s Odyssey lacks many of the elements that make the poem great. It has nothing convincing to say about time, memory, history, war, or about the relationship between one warrior’s glorious return and the lives of his family, adversaries, comrades, friends and neighbours. It lacks psychological, emotional, political and ethical depth. Its narrative structure is gimmicky. The writing is abysmal. None of the characters has convincing motivation for their actions or words.”

She also added, “There are no sex scenes, and all the food looks horrible.”

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Still, she did say, “Unlike some of Nolan’s other films, The Odyssey is not boring, thanks to the source material, which is impossible to mess up entirely. It’s a family-friendly audiovisual spectacle, like an elaborate Fourth of July fireworks display – and with about the same level of narrative and emotional depth.”

Christopher Nolan has not responded to Emily Wilson‘s statements. But, he did mention her in Empire Magazine. “I think it’s the Emily Wilson translation that begins, ‘Tell me about a complicated man’,” Nolan said. “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.”

If you can’t find tickets for the movie in IMAX 70mm, you luckily will have plenty of time to catch the movie in that format.

Posted To:Christopher Nolan Movies The Odyssey