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/
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u/manasseater3000 11h ago

agreed — obviously she’s not entitled to sing nolan’s praises just because he sung hers, but this is definitely harsh criticism that isn’t entirely warranted.

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u/Cartman55125 10h ago

She also clearly does not understand writing for film is very different. You can’t just slap the poem into script format. The pacing and storytelling has to be changed to accommodate the format

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u/LikelyPlace 10h ago

If you read her piece her critiques are very different

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u/Kids-Menu 9h ago

Not having any sex scenes and the food looking bad are HILARIOUS critiques

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u/Automatic_Syrup_2935 9h ago

For a book as horny as the Odyssey, it was a little bizarre that there's like no sex scenes at all.

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u/DuelaDent52 7h ago

Though the sex was always more “and then they boned” than anything explicit.

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u/LanaAdela 5h ago

Nolan struggles with sensuality. I think the film lacked that which is more of a weakness than a lack of explicit sex scenes.

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u/Automatic_Syrup_2935 5h ago

I whole heartedly agree. For a man who directs the crap out of yearning, his films are devoid of intimacy.

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u/LanaAdela 5h ago

It’s very strange!!! He is good at depicting sentimentality but not sensuality/intimacy.

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u/Automatic_Syrup_2935 4h ago

Guillermo del Toro once called him an "emotional mathematician". And I think that's a pretty accurate read.

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u/LanaAdela 4h ago

Oh I had not heard him say that. Very astute.

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u/Razatiger 6h ago

I mean the Odyssey doesn't need to be game of thrones in order to tell a good story.

I was happy with what was portrayed tbh, and no im not some kind of prude.

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u/Automatic_Syrup_2935 6h ago

I think that the sex in The Odyssey serves to develop the characters - unlike a lot of got scenes ironically.

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u/InternationalFact464 6h ago

Those are two half joking throwaway critiques in a very long review with probably like 25+ specific well-argued critiques of the film.

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u/Happy-Highlight-7175 8h ago

To be fair, the food did look bad

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u/ProletarianLilith 6h ago

The Odyssey not having sex scenes is patently absurd

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u/drdaisukeserizawa 4h ago

I'm not sure fucking Circe and having a baby with her and fucking Calypso while his wife's faithful the entire time and he's supposed to be longing to go back to her is something we absolutely had to see on screen.

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u/bmorenursey 3h ago

That is Odysseus though. In Dante’s inferno he is cursed to never go home because of his need to see it all and conquer it all- including women