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‘I would be ashamed to have written any part of this’: Odyssey translator Emily Wilson attacks Nolan blockbuster
Emily Wilson, the classicist whose acclaimed 2017 translation of Homer's Odyssey was cited by Christopher Nolan while promoting his film adaptation, has sharply criticised the finished work, arguing it lacks the psychological, emotional and ethical depth of the original poem. Her intervention is notable given Nolan had publicly praised her translation, including its opening line "Tell me about a complicated man", making her rebuke a pointed rejection of the film's literary credentials from the very scholar he credited as an influence.
Writing in the London Review of Books, Wilson said the film combines Nolan's "usual grandiosity and superficiality", calling its characters underdeveloped, its narrative structure "gimmicky" and the writing "abysmal", adding she would be "ashamed" to have written any part of the script. She repeated the criticism in an interview with the Sunday Times, saying it "didn't land emotionally" and that she wasn't given reason to care about the hero's fate. Despite this, Wilson, a professor of classical studies at the University of Pennsylvania, welcomed the film's cultural impact, noting it is driving audiences back to cinemas, boosting sales of Odyssey translations, and possibly helping to protect university literature and classics departments from cuts.
In short
- Emily Wilson blasts Nolan's Odyssey film as shallow and badly written
- Ironic, as Nolan had praised her acclaimed translation of the poem
- She still credits the film with reviving interest in classics and cinema
Steelman: both sides, in good faith
The strongest fair case each way — we don't pick a winner.
The case for
Defenders of the film might contend that cinema and literature are distinct artistic forms, each with its own possibilities and limitations, and that a film adaptation need not replicate a novel's literary qualities to succeed as art. The film's commercial and cultural achievement—drawing audiences to the big screen, substantially increasing sales of Odyssey translations, and helping to sustain humanities departments—represents genuine cultural value that shouldn't be dismissed simply because it doesn't match Homer's psychological subtlety. Cinematic spectacle and popular accessibility serve legitimate purposes in introducing classical works to new generations; judging the film by literary standards mistakes its artistic purpose.
The case against
Critics like Wilson argue that when a director explicitly credits a major literary translation as inspiration, the resulting film must be held accountable to standards of artistic quality and intellectual substance. The Odyssey has endured because of its psychological depth and moral complexity; losing these in adaptation doesn't represent a necessary trade-off between accessibility and art but rather an artistic failure. Great films have always managed to combine popular appeal with genuine intellectual and emotional rigour, demonstrating that mass audiences need not be served by superficiality, and that adapting Homer ought to demand of screenwriting the same craft one expects of the source material.
Explained simply
Homer's Odyssey is an ancient Greek epic poem written nearly 3,000 years ago that follows a hero's long struggle to return home after war. Emily Wilson, a classicist and professor at the University of Pennsylvania, published a new translation of the poem in 2017 that received widespread acclaim.
Filmmaker Christopher Nolan has recently released a blockbuster film adaptation of the Odyssey. In promoting the film, Nolan publicly credited Wilson's translation as a significant influence on his creative approach.
Wilson's critical assessment of the film carries particular weight given her status as an acclaimed translator and scholar of the source material. The situation highlights the broader question of how classical literature is adapted for modern audiences.
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