L'odyssée

Okay I first saw this movie when I was in 9th grade.We watched it after reading the book.I thought it was a pretty good movie from the start.The special effects were considerably good.Armand Assante played an Excellent Odysseus....I liked Armand's portrayal more than Sean Bean's (Troy).I love Greek mythology and I love this movie.I plan on buying it on DVD.The scene where the old man shoots the arrow through the loops to reveal Odysseus is amazing.Then he says "your crime is that you tried to steal my world" that part was awesome.I think if you are into Greek mythology you will like this movie.They show it on the sci-fi channel every once in a while so I think you should definitely check it out.Like it says in my summary....for a made for TV film it does pretty well.

"The Odyssey", purportedly the work of the same man who wrote "The Iliad", is a long epic poem which is world-renowned as a tale of adventure. The greatness of this adaptation is that the ethical central character, Odysseus or 'Ulysses', King of Ithaca, is treated as the first man in history able to think rationally--to control his passions. The filmmakers do not spend more than a few minutes on the "Odysseys" background, the war by the ancient Argives' alliance against the city of Ilium or "Troy". The thrust of the piece is the wanderings undertaken by Ulysses AFTER he returns home safely from that war. His wife Penelope waits for him; his family never gives up. But meanwhile, even as his son grows, the kingdom's nobles grow bolder. They demand Penelope marry one of them, since they believe Ulysses is dead. By night, Penelope unweaves what she has woven of her wedding dress during daylight. The bulk of the film follows Ulysses on what amounts to a shipborne Cook's tour of fictionally-reworked famous ancient places about the Mediterraean, to confrontations with the man-eating Cyclops and his herd of sheep, with Circe the goddess who can transform men into swine, with the Lotos eaters and the Gulf of the world. This movie is a special-effects extravaganza with high-tech effects and a solid cast to back up the adventure by way of intelligent direction and good dialogue. The very large made-for-television epic was directed by Andrei Konchalovsky. Konchalovsky did the adaptation and Christopher Solimine the teleplay. The bright cinematography for a very long and colorful adventure was the work of Sergei Kopzlov, the original music composed by Eduard Artemyev; the elaborate set decorations were done by Kren Brooks, with costumes by Charles Knode. The outstanding production design was the achievement of Roger Hall. In the huge cast, Armand Assante seemed an intelligent Odysseus save that he lacked a classical speech training. Greta Scacchi was Penelope, Isaballa Rossellini Athena, Irene Papas Anticleia, and Jeroen Krabbe King Alcinous. Vanessa Williams played Calypso, Christopher Lee Tiresias, Bernadette Peters Circe and Geraldine Chaplin played Eurycleia. Many others enacted the parts of persons in the Trojan War, the suitors at Ithaca's court, assorted divinities and personages encountered by Odeysseus and his mates in the course of his ship's many adventures. Katie Carr was Nausicaa, who helped him when he was shipwrecked; and Alan Stenson portrayed Odysseus's son Telemcahus. From the Trojan sequences to the slaughter of the offending nobles by team-Ulysses, he in disguise using an ancient horn-bow only he could string to perform the deed, this is an exciting, eye-filling and well-planned cinematic adventure. It was a great surprise when it was offering among many mean-streets naturalistic films in 1997. Not to be missed.

My husband and I just read the Odyssey together and this film was such a wonderful visualization! The settings, the sea, the magical gods' voices and appearances were absorbing and believable. I especially enjoyed the costuming; we see frozen images of people in ancient Greek dress but they moved with the wearers, just as our clothes do, and they helped create a very sensual impression of ancient Greek life. Although the interiors were a little bare, they were believable too and I enjoyed the colors and paintings that gave life to otherwise stony buildings. I have visited much of the Mediterranean and love the bleached ruins of the Greeks and Romans, but they had colors when they were new--it was exciting to see them that way. The actors were also believable, esp. Assant as Odysseus, conveying both drama and excitement. Some viewers seem to miss the fact that Odysseus survived the Trojan war and would have gotten home faster if he had not offended Poseidon, the god of the sea, by bragging about his performance. Poseidon makes sure he suffers before he reaches home, enlisting his relatives and friends, while Odysseus persists in his goal of reaching his loving wife and home. Altogether a terrific film. I want a DVD version to watch it again--the library video we saw had some jumpy places!

Having been forced to read The Odyssey several times throughout school in clunky and stale translations, it was very refreshing to see the story brought to life like an action movie. I don't want to sound shallow by emphasizing that aspect of the epic because I do understand and appreciate the subtler nuances and motifs of Homer's poem. However, to take it out of the classroom and turn it into a popcorn movie does not do it injustice. In fact, it gave me a better appreciation of the story and a shot in the arm to give the print version another try. Which I did. And I really enjoyed it this time. Probably the fact that I didn't have an essay assignment breathing down my neck on my last reading helped immeasurably.

Anywho, I think Armand Assante was an inspired choice for Ulysses and the supporting cast was very well-chosen too, especially Greta Scacchi and Nicholas Clay. The Scylla/Charibdis and Hydra segments were the most thrilling. Perhaps the FX weren't always top-notch, but this is TV, folks. It definitely had a storybook feel to it with the bright colors and understandable dialogue. Now, if they will only make a TV miniseries of The Iliad......

This is a fine, beautifully crafted version of Homer's The Odyssey. Armand Assante gives a sterling performance as the King of Ithica, who's journey to return from the siege of Troy leads him on a 20-odd year quest to find his way home to his beloved wife Penelope.

If you have read The Odyssey, you will know what kind of challenge it would have been to adapt it into a coherent film and the filmmakers here did a superb job. In capturing all of the excitement, enticement and rollicking adventure of the epic, they brought to life a superlative story rich in imagination.

Kudos to the fine cast, including Eric Roberts as Eurymachus, Greta Scacchi as Penelope and an arresting cameo by Christopher Lee as the blind prophet Tiresias. Eduard Artemyev melodious score only adds to the epic feel.

Not without flaws (Troy is skimmed by a little too fast, and some of the visual effects are a little clunky), but the human element of the story is well dramatized. A supremely entertaining epic.