theguardian.com
‘I would be ashamed to have written any part of this’: Odyssey translator Emily Wilson attacks Nolan blockbuster
Wilson, whose work on Homer’s epic was praised by Nolan, said his film was grandiose and superficial with ‘nothing convincing to say’
Emily Wilson, the classicist whose 2017 translation of Homer’s Odyssey was cited by Christopher Nolan in early publicity for his hugely successful adaptation of the poem, has roundly criticised the film, saying “it has nothing convincing to say” and that its “lacks psychological, emotional, political and ethical depth”.
In a scathing essay for the London Review of Books, Wilson writes: “I had hoped that Nolan’s affinity with these Homeric themes might push him to new creative heights, and enable him to conjure more believable characters. But The Odyssey features his usual combination of grandiosity and superficiality … the film’s vision is too confused, its characters too underdeveloped, to deliver what it half-promises in terms of big ideas – although it is very good at conveying big bangs and big giants.” Continue reading...
![Comic: Holes. Elevation is to scale relative to sea level and ground level. Land shapes and horizontal distances are not to scale. [Lines for every 1k meters starting from -12k up to +4k: Bingham Canyon Mine (US), Veryovkina Cave (Georgia), MPONENG Gold Mine (South Africa), Sanford Laboratory (US), Giant Crystal Cave (Mexico), Derinkugo Underground City (Turkey), WIPP (US), Restof Salt Mine, with an arrow pointing at the bottom that reads “oops” (US), San Andreas Fault Observatory Borehole (US) CFB North Bay (Canada), Woodingdean Water Well (dug by hand) (United Kingdom), Diefen-Bunker (Canada), Deep Underground Command Center (Canceled in 1965) (US), Lake Peigneu, with another oops arrow next to it (US), Sydney Opera House Parking (Australia), Onkalo Spent Nuclear Fuel Repository (Finland), Hudson River, Delaware Aqueduct (US), Raven Rock (US), Wieliczka and Bochina Salt Mines (Poland), Atchison Storage Facility (US), Snolab (Canada), Detroit Salt Mine (US), Hongyancun Subway Station (China), Nuclear Test Shafts (North Korea), Super Kamiokande Neutrino Detector (Japan), Gran Sasso Laboratory (Italy), Peak above Gran Sasso, Modane Laboratory (France), Peak above Modane Laboratory, Gotthard Tunnel (Switzerland), Peak above Cheyenne Bunker and Gotthard Tunnel, Cheyenne Mountain Bunker (US), Kola Superdeep Borehole (Russia) - deepest artificial point below surface at -11917m, Lake Baikal (Russia), sediments under Lake Baikal, IDDP-2 Borehole (Iceland), Dead Sea (multiple countries), Ryfylke Tunnel (Norway), Pantal Remis Mine with another oops arrow (Malaysia), Great Blue Hole (Belize), Joides Resolution Expedition 307 (Atlantic Ocean), Deepwater Horizon Borehole (Gulf of Mexico) - deepest artificial point below sea level at -11944m, Glomar Challenger Hole 504B (Pacific Ocean), Mohole (Pacific Ocean), Joides Resolution Expedition 329 (Pacific Ocean), Mariana Trench (Pacific Ocean)]](https://cdn.bsky.app/img/feed_thumbnail/plain/did:plc:cz73r7iyiqn26upot4jtjdhk/bafkreia43wl3gwyqydc47yse5gbdzybk2edtcibxdtr5jf4gqorc676ap4)
![Comic. [Person 1 with short hair gestures to car while talking to Person 2.] PERSON 1: You won’t have to worry about gas pries *or* electricity prices with our new pullback drive model. At the factory, we put the car on the ground and tow it all the way backward until it starts clicking. To drive forward, you just release the brake and it goes.](https://cdn.bsky.app/img/feed_thumbnail/plain/did:plc:cz73r7iyiqn26upot4jtjdhk/bafkreid7nx5xlxlmws5o2b2rg347mkgqhtbzleojikwkntvvh6cpkyhqie)
![Comic: Common Sailing Rigs. [18 boats with different sail types, labeled.] Lateen; Bermuda rigged sloop; Ketch, Gaff rigged sloop; yawl; schooner; Ketch-rigged Gaff; Kloop-rigged sketch; bunkbed rig; Flettner rig; Oops, all Spinnakers; keel rig; kite rig; longsail rig; deckhand obliterator; offset rig; mastless rig; unclassifiable chaos rig.](https://cdn.bsky.app/img/feed_thumbnail/plain/did:plc:cz73r7iyiqn26upot4jtjdhk/bafkreientc5tredyz4kyj4ifwiiu2diy5zkxze6pnlbtcyxlntwlkg43ku)
![Comic. Confusion matrix showing renditions of different combinations, colored yellow, tan, or gray. [Air: gamma rays Y, neutrons Y, alpha particles G, light Y, sound Y, heat Y, swords Y, toxic dust Y, radio Y, sharks G] [Lead: gamma rays G, neutrons T, alpha particles G, light G, Sound Y, heat Y, swords G, toxic dust T, radio G, sharks G] [Water: gamma rays T, neutrons G, alpha particles G, light T, sound Y, heat Y, swords Y, toxic dust Y, radio G, sharks Y] [Vacuum: gamma rays Y, neutrons Y, alpha particles Y, light Y, sound G, heat T, swords Y, toxic dust Y, radio Y, sharks G] [Oven mitts: gamma rays Y, neutrons Y, alpha particles G, light G, sound T, heat G, swords Y, toxic dust Y, radio Y, sharks Y] [Armor: gamma rays Y, neutrons Y, alpha particles G, light G, sound Y, heat Y, swords G, toxic dust Y, radio G, sharks T] [Biohazard suit: gamma rays Y, neutrons Y, alpha particles G, light G, sound Y, heat Y, swords Y, toxic dust G, radio Y, sharks Y] [Faraday cage: gamma rays Y, neutrons Y, alpha particles Y, light Y, sound Y, heat Y, swords Y, toxic dust Y, radio G, sharks Y] [Shark cage: gamma rays Y, neutrons Y, alpha particles Y, light Y, sound Y, heat Y, swords Y, toxic dust Y, radio Y, sharks G]](https://cdn.bsky.app/img/feed_thumbnail/plain/did:plc:cz73r7iyiqn26upot4jtjdhk/bafkreib7rzofmrqb5cvnyccnb7ftj6qroxtp55i4dqqnbp2ozun6gaxbkm)