Translator Emily Wilson has ripped apart Christopher Nolan’s The Odyssey in a SCATHING review

Christopher Nolan might have made one of the biggest films of the year with The Odyssey, but one person who definitely isn’t impressed is the translator whose work he openly admired while making it.

Classicist Emily Wilson, whose acclaimed 2017 English translation of The Odyssey was referenced by Nolan throughout the film’s press tour, has delivered a brutal verdict on the blockbuster in a new essay for the London Review of Books. She really didn’t hold back.

Wilson wrote that she had hoped Nolan’s interest in Homer’s themes would “push him to new creative heights” and help him create richer, more believable characters. Instead, she argued the film falls into “his usual combination of grandiosity and superficiality.”

She continued: “The film’s vision is too confused, its characters too underdeveloped, to deliver what it half-promises in terms of big ideas, although it is very good at conveying big bangs and big giants.”

The criticism only gets harsher from there.

According to Wilson, Nolan’s adaptation misses much of what has made Homer’s poem endure for thousands of years. “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.”

She added: “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.”

Wilson even said she “would be ashamed to have written any part of this,” making it one of the most scathing responses to Nolan’s hugely successful adaptation so far.

The criticism is particularly striking because Nolan previously singled Wilson out as a major influence while developing the film. During the press tour, he told Empire magazine that he used the opening line of her translation, “Tell me about a complicated man”, as a guiding principle when shaping Matt Damon’s version of Odysseus.

Despite her blistering review, Wilson did admit the film has had a positive impact beyond the screen. She said “the release of The Odyssey is still an event to celebrate,” pointing out that the movie is bringing audiences back to cinemas while renewed interest in Homer has seen translations, including her own, “flying off the shelves”.

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Featured image credit: Universal