In 2004, “Troy,” based on Homer’s Iliad, hit the cinema screens running, featuring hundreds of energetic extras fighting on beaches. Achilles, of the famous heel, became one of Brad Pitt’s most memorable roles.
“The Return” (Modern Films), showing now at the Montrose Playhouse, covers Homer’s other epic poem, the Odyssey. The film opens very strongly. A prone, naked male body is lying on a beach, just lapped by the waves, which can be heard clearly over a moving soundtrack reminiscent of the sea. It becomes clear that the man is alive: we are on the Greek island of Ithaca and joining the story of Odysseus part-way through Homer’s work. After going to fight successfully for the Greeks in the Trojan War, he is believed lost, likely dead. Controversially, wife Penelope, the Queen, played by Juliette Binoche, has not selected another husband, despite an inexhaustible flow of suitors. She is strong, keeping them waiting; maybe Odysseus will return. Their son Telemachus, played by Charlie Plummer, seems completely overwhelmed by his own princely responsibilities; and, while interfering again and again with his mother’s decision, somehow he appears not to like her very much. Of course, Odysseus, played by Ralph Fiennes, has not died and the film follows the course of events as first he is revealed and then subsequently murders all the suitors.
It is Penelope who steals the show. Like the classic operatic-diva, she controls the men around her with her face and eyes, all the while using very few words. She is patiently weaving a red cloak and deliberately putting off choosing a new husband. All the “thugs” living in tents outside her palace obsess about which of them is the chosen one – but, as the story slowly develops, we are forced to consider that perhaps she simply doesn’t want to remarry at all. (How many of us lose a partner and make this decision?) She seems to have a firmly spiritual centre, weaving her cloak (sometimes referred to as a “shroud”) with poise, keeping her peace, moving gently, noticing a great deal. When challenged about her husband, “Odysseus is dead,” her rejoinder is “not to me.” Later in the film, she deplores the cruel murders, “Killing a man to amuse thugs.” “Why do men go to war? Aren’t they happy in their own family?” She especially does not want Telemachus to follow his father’s example and become a violent killer.
The closing credits call “The Return” an Italy/Greece/France/U.K. co-production. The film is mostly shot in the former two countries and Britain (London) provided most of the male actors, which brings us to the biggest problem of the movie. Last week, I reviewed “Mr. Burton,” noting that Richard Burton was required to “lose his Welshness.” Leaving aside the somewhat obvious objection that people who lived on Ithaca would not have British accents, why do casting directors insist on actors who speak in that sort of fake privately-educated voice which surely went out in Richard Burton’s time. Children from Scotland, say, who are hoping to become actors deserve better.
I really admire the effort to convert a very famous, long poem, which is mostly descriptive rather than conversational, into a screenplay. No doubt this required thoughtful discretion: there are many translations of the Odyssey to use as the source text, each making different assumptions about the original and even using different styles of poetry (the introduction to the recent Emily Wilson version explains the various schools-of-thought). The decision to go with lightly dialogued action has the tangible benefit of allowing time for numerous delightful close-up, lingering, long-shots. I thought that the lighting of the actors’ faces during the many scenes lit by fires was very impressive. Even more challenging were scenes lit by fires glowing in an adjacent chamber. Another very nice technique was to show many of the characters’ bodies in profile in silhouette form.
One or two irritations – another commonly used device was ending a section of dialogue by having one of the men utter some sort of definitive statement then immediately flounce off. Sure, this dramatically moves us from one scene to the next, but it doesn’t authentically reflect the way we behave. And I guess T-shirts had not been invented in the times of the Odyssey, but there is a limit to the number of men on low-carb diets one wants to see; and there is altogether too much nudity, especially as the men are apparently incapable of washing themselves.
Many of us learned some Greek mythology and studied part of Homer’s poetry at school. “The Return” is a worthwhile way of revisiting this classical education and, in equal measure, a time-efficient approach to the stories for the first time.
For something altogether more lively, recently “SIX The Musical,” about the wives of Henry VIII, has been playing to sold-out screens and ecstatic audiences (there are still some performances left). The Playhouse delivers a wide variety of artistic, cultural and entertainment value beyond cinema, broadening-out audiences and stimulating us to try something new at very low cost outlay. Recently, dozens of Broadway and West-End shows have come to Montrose. Calculating roughly, the total cost of a theatre ticket, train fare, overnight, food, etc would be at least ten times higher than the price of watching on the big-screen. I’m told that as a result of the popularity of event-theatre, a number of the most well-regarded National Theatre Live plays from recent years will run again over the summer, plus concerts of various different genres of music.
Adam Poole
10 April 2025
If you are interested in viewing this screening, please book your tickets here
