The Return

It’s not the whole Odyssey, it’s just, as the title suggests, the last and most important part. The story is told here quietly (mostly) and with a great deal of restraint, until the resolution comes. This telling relies on subtle speech and gestures to get its message across, about the pain of separation and loss, about duty and honor, and war and peace, and family and home. Details matter here. The film appears to have been shot only in natural light, either the clear and sometimes harsh light of the day, or the flickering and obscuring light and shadows of fire, as befits a tale that tells us of the Bronze Age. The tone is meditative through much of the film’s narrative—and yet, when that climax is reached, that extraordinary scene of both triumph and tragedy, it is thrilling to watch, a magical moment that has come down to us through the ages and never grows old, even if heroes like Odysseus do. What a gift the Greeks gave to us, their progeny, in this tale that defines what a classic is, and this rendering is very much worthy of resting within that canon. This is a bow well strung that hits its mark precisely.