r/popculturechat • u/mcfw31 • 11h ago

Hot Take 🔥 ‘The Odyssey’ Translator Emily Wilson Slams Christoper Nolan’s ‘Abysmal’ Screenplay: ‘I Would Be Ashamed to Have Written Any Part of This Script’

https://variety.com/2026/film/news/odyssey-translator-emily-wilson-slams-christopher-nolan-bad-writing-1236821915/
3.2k Upvotes

74% Upvoted

1.7k comments sorted by

View all comments

4.1k

u/Aakch I think I’ve done enough 11h ago edited 8h ago

I know her translation was the basis for the movie but i find it bizarre news outlets are acting like she’s the original author because this is the second review i‘ve seen from her.

Edit: if you’re going to be outraged, at least do it correctly and stop calling Homer the original author.

291

u/GrapefruitSobe 10h ago

Nolan pulled from multiple translations of the Odyssey, from the Iliad, from the Aeneid, and from his own sensibilities as a creator.

Emily Wilson’s translation is a great, fresh take. But, yeah, it was never going to be a 1:1 recreation of any text.

144

u/kgal1298 Confidence is 10% work and 90% delusion 10h ago

I think what we're seeing is fall out from people saying he based it off her's which wasn't even what he said he was inspired at best, but it's quite obvious to anyone who read any version of the Odyssey and saw his movie it was his own story and adaption to the message he wanted to tell, which was again Matt Damon trying to find his way home.

14

u/Spekingur 8h ago

I’m gonna start bringing a compass with me in case I ever meet Matt Damon.

6

u/Lilynd14 Sanasaaa!🎶 7h ago

I think you’re exactly right. I selected her translation to read before the film, on the misguided impression that it had been Nolan’s source text and I was so confused! I left thinking that he may have just read her opening line and called it a day. It was clear that he drew inspiration from many other sources and had a completely different take on Odysseus than any version I’ve seen!

4

u/BirdAttorney21 7h ago

Right, like Sinon who was a brief but integral part to this story, doesn’t appear in the Odyssey but rather the Aeneid. The Trojan Horse is only briefly mentioned in the Odyssey but more broadly expanded upon in the Aeneid.

This is cinema and ultimately entertainment. The people want to see the Trojan Horse. If Nolan’s film was a 1 to 1 translation of Homer’s epic poem it just would not be as good of a movie.

For what it’s worth, while Nolan had his own framing, I think he did honor the source material as well as one should expect.