Translator Mentioned in 'The Odyssey', Emily Wilson Tears Nolan’s Work Apart
"I’d be embarrassed by that," translator Emily Wilson quips, calling the script "awful" and criticizing the lack of sex scenes.
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The film The Odyssey, by Christopher Nolan, received a scathing review from someone already familiar with Homer’s universe. Emily Wilson, one of the most renowned translators of the epic poems The Odyssey and The Iliad, did not hold back in criticizing the adaptation and expressed her disappointment with the result.
Wilson, whose translation of The Odyssey had previously been cited by Nolan himself - including the famous opening line “Tell me about a complicated man” - published a review in the London Review of Books in which she described the feature as a mix of visual grandeur and lack of depth.
According to the translator, the film presents a “combination of grandeur and superficiality”, failing to explore central themes of Homer’s work, such as memory, war, time, and the consequences of a warrior’s return to his family and community.
For Wilson, Nolan’s adaptation features underdeveloped characters and a narrative that does not deliver the complexity of the original poem. She said the film “lacks many of the elements that make the poem great” and was especially critical of the screenplay, which she called “flat”: “I would be ashamed to have written any part of this screenplay,” the translator said.
Among the more unusual criticisms, Wilson also said the production left out important aspects present in Homer’s work, such as sex scenes and even the depiction of food. According to her, “there are no sex scenes and all the food looks horrible”.
Despite the criticism, Emily Wilson acknowledged that the film may bring new generations closer to classical literature. She said she hopes the production encourages more people to discover The Odyssey and noted that translations of the work, including hers, have seen increased sales.
The translator also praised Nolan’s attempt to bring a nearly 3,000-year-old story to a wide audience and thanked the director for his effort to get more people reading again.
The Odyssey is now playing in theaters. Learn everything about the film here.
