Odissea

This European TV mini-series has haunted me since I first viewed it with my parents over 20 years ago. Irene Pappas is superb as Penelope. The actor playing Ulysses seems to truly embody my image of the archetypal "thinking man's hero." The rhythm and pacing; the sets and location; the sense of death, longing and loss - "nostalgia" - from the Greek, "a longing for home" - are imbued in each scene. I remember asking my parents many questions about these strange doomed characters and their fate. And decades later,I remember the intensity with which we watched this production. It spurred me to seek a deeper understanding of Homer's work. Too bad the producers of this year's "Troy" (2004) didn't try and emulate this masterpiece. I'd appreciate any information on how I could obtain a DVD/video copy.

...then stumbling upon it by pure chance on Youtube? That is how fabulous this version of the Odyssey is: so sure-footed, so unexpectedly faithful to the poem, so jaw droppingly gorgeous to look at that you are constantly re-checking the end credits for Fellini's name in there, surely, somewhere? I came on here, though, to answer the previous heartfelt pleas as to when this utter masterpiece can be seen again - someone this year has put it in four parts on Youtube. Search for 'The Odyssey Franco Rossi' And prepare to be quite, quite blown away

I went through the sign in process just to write my plea -- why can't we see this again. I watched it on late night TV in the early 70s. I'd come home from my evening shift job and stay up just to enter this magical world. I have never forgotten it. It was narrated in English, it has a slow breathable pace, a dignity, a timelessness. Who reads these reviews? DVD production is a cinch these days -- surely it still exists in some archive somewhere. What would it take to give it back to us? Who must we ask?

As it was already put, the best version ever of Homer's epic. Entirely shot in natural locations in the Mediterranean. The sea and the sky are strikingly blue, the islands green and untouched. The clothing is linen, wool and fur, the settings stony and bare, everything is somewhat rugged and primitive, a bit what you would find in Cacoyannis or Pasolini movies, and it makes it all the more authentic. Although the story is based on myths and widely goes into supernatural, it gives us a good idea of what life in the 10th century BC might have been like.

The rhythm is somewhat slow and austere, but the whole is so beautiful that you quickly get into it. Actually, it is amazingly close to the original plot by Homer, if not to the text itself. Ulysses doesn't appear until the first hour, the start being centered on his son looking after him. Then he suddenly appears lost in a storm, lands on the island of the Pheacians where the royal family takes good care of him. His adventures are told in flashback as a narration to his hosts : the terrifying Cyclop, the magic world of Circe, the Underworld, the Sirens etc. He finally comes back to his homeland Ithaca after 20 years, and it all ends dramatically with the killing of the pretenders of his faithful spouse Penelope.

As a story, the Odyssey is an unparalleled metaphor of the struggles of a man's life. The cast is brilliant and international here. Irene Papas gives us a typical Greek tragedy style performance as Penelope, but most amazing is the Albanian actor Bekim Fehmiu as Ulysses. Really good looking and totally convincing, it seems the role was really made for him. Strange that he was never offered roles of this dimension afterwards. Also playing Nausicaa is Barbara Bach (as Barbara Gregorini) later famous as the James Bond girl in "The Spy Who Loved Me", and playing Athena is Michele Breton, who was otherwise noted in the strange movie called "Performance" with Mick Jagger.

As it was done 35 years ago, the series was actually quite an innovation for its time, as the first big European co-production for TV (Italy, France, Germany and Yugoslavia). I have seen this mini-series in 8 parts on French television as far back as 1974. I was a kid back then, and although it was all in black and white, it left a very vivid impression. All my life long I wondered if I would ever get a chance to see it again, as it was never shown on French TV later on.

I recently found a copy on DVD (all in wonderful color) through Internet. It is unfortunately only in Italian with no subtitles, although French and German versions existed back then. I never heard there was any English version of this film as it is widely unknown in the Anglo Saxon world, and it's quite a shame. If you ever get a chance to watch this, you are not going to forget it ever.

There were not many versions of the Odyssey before or after that. The one by Camerini in 1955 starring Kirk Douglas is a classic sword-and-sandal like "the 10 Commandments", but not as impressive and very short for such a complex story. The one in 1997 by Konchalovsky is a meretricious Hollywood movie, based on special effects, sometimes quite gory, very poorly acted and grossly afar from Homer's story and atmosphere.

The Odyssey as a book is a masterpiece of world literature by itself. Sadly enough, every movie version of Homers epic, hardly make any impression on me, and from comments below I can see I'm not the only one.But seeing this version was entirely different experience. I don't know why, but no movie ever awake in me such sense for longing, nostalgic, a feel for time that past by, like this series. I was delighted to find Italian subs for deaf persons & translate it to my native Serbian.Latter, on my vacation on Kefalonia & Ithaca, I'v got desire to translate to English, and partly as a homage to Bekim Fehmiu who commit a suicide at that time in Belgrade. With only few minor diversions from Homer, F. Rossi made this series as best adaptation of any classical work, as by my opinion.Omittion of Scylla & Charibdes was probably due to budget constraints. Also, displacing the episode with Lestrygonians into openings of Odysseus story (& reducing Odysseus fleet to one ship), he cunningly enable himself easier & cheaper (but equally effective) performance.In places where he change Homer (ex.suitors decide to string bow day after failed competition), he does so artistically, that I have impression that even Homer would congratulate him. With obviously only two constructed ships (one large & one small-that of Telemachus), he accurately depicted on of most famous sea voyages in history.Unique depiction of ships, cities, Trojan horse or Odysseus bow just adds to astonishment. Dialogues are special thing in this series:natural, proverbial, romantic & never boring.Actors plays in such manner, that I cant remember anyone who deserves any critic. This series also affect me to look on another works of Franco Rossi. Thus I watch Eneid (1971), which is mostly deficient comparing to his previous work (ie Odissea), but have nice description of destruction of Troy & still its only full film version of Vergil epic.My recommendations.