{"id":713879,"date":"2026-07-27T16:43:08","date_gmt":"2026-07-27T16:43:08","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/uk\/713879\/"},"modified":"2026-07-27T16:43:08","modified_gmt":"2026-07-27T16:43:08","slug":"i-would-be-ashamed-to-have-written-any-part-of-this-odyssey-translator-emily-wilson-attacks-nolan-blockbuster-movies","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/uk\/713879\/","title":{"rendered":"\u2018I would be ashamed to have written any part of this\u2019: Odyssey translator Emily Wilson attacks Nolan blockbuster | Movies"},"content":{"rendered":"

Emily Wilson, the classicist whose 2017 translation of Homer\u2019s Odyssey was cited by Christopher Nolan in early publicity<\/a> for his hugely successful adaptation of the poem, has roundly criticised the film, saying \u201cit has nothing convincing to say\u201d and that its \u201clacks psychological, emotional, political and ethical depth\u201d.<\/p>\n

In a scathing essay for the London Review of Books, Wilson writes: \u201cI had hoped that Nolan\u2019s affinity with these Homeric themes might push him to new creative heights, and enable him to conjure more believable characters. But The Odyssey<\/a> features his usual combination of grandiosity and superficiality \u2026 the film\u2019s vision is too confused, its characters too underdeveloped, to deliver what it half-promises in terms of big ideas \u2013 although it is very good at conveying big bangs and big giants.\u201d<\/p>\n

Wilson adds: \u201cNolan\u2019s 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\u2019s 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. There are no sex scenes, and all the food looks horrible.\u201d<\/p>\n

\u2018And all the food looks horrible\u2019 \u2026\u00a0Emily Wilson. Photograph: Elijah Ellis<\/p>\n

Wilson also noted Nolan\u2019s admiration for the opening line of her Odyssey translation: \u201cTell me about a complicated man\u201d \u2013 but added: \u201cI would be ashamed to have written any part of this script.\u201d<\/p>\n

Wilson, who is department chair and professor of classical studies at the University of Pennsylvania, also went on the attack in an interview with the Sunday Times<\/a>, saying: \u201cIt didn\u2019t land emotionally for me at all. Which I think is partly about the fact that, unlike Homer, it\u2019s not very well written.\u201d<\/p>\n

\u201cThe characters don\u2019t have the kind of depth the Homeric characters have. I felt, \u2018Do I really care if this guy gets back to his wife?\u2019 You haven\u2019t given me any reason to.\u201d<\/p>\n

Nevertheless, Wilson acknowledged the impact the film is already having on cultural awareness of ancient Greek literature as well as cinema itself. Saying \u201cthe release of The Odyssey is still an event to celebrate,\u201d she suggests: \u201cThis epic is bringing audiences back to cinemas \u2026 translations of Odyssey, including mine, are flying off the shelves \u2026 [and] perhaps the film will persuade a few college administrators not to cut their literature, language and history departments.\u201d<\/p>\n

\u201cNolan,\u201d Wilson says, \u201cis doing his best to get the general public reading again, and I am grateful.\u201d<\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"Emily Wilson, the classicist whose 2017 translation of Homer\u2019s Odyssey was cited by Christopher Nolan in early publicity…\n","protected":false},"author":2,"featured_media":713880,"comment_status":"","ping_status":"","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"footnotes":""},"categories":[8],"tags":[96,59,56,54,55],"class_list":["post-713879","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","has-post-thumbnail","category-entertainment","tag-entertainment","tag-gb","tag-uk","tag-united-kingdom","tag-unitedkingdom"],"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/uk\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/713879","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/uk\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/uk\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/uk\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/users\/2"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/uk\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/comments?post=713879"}],"version-history":[{"count":0,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/uk\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/713879\/revisions"}],"wp:featuredmedia":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/uk\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media\/713880"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/uk\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=713879"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/uk\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=713879"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/uk\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=713879"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}