Genre: Adventure/Epic
Director: Ridley Scott
Writer: Andrew Doster
Producer: Chad Taylor
Based on The Odyssey by Homer
Cast: Michael Fassbender, Jessica Chastain, Tom Holland, Rachel Weisz, Richard Madden, Ed Skrein, Riley Keough, Olivia DeJonge, Donald Sutherland, Joel Kinnaman, Thomas Jane, Dianne Wiest, David Denman, Carice Van Houten, Meg Foster
Plot: The film starts in Sparta. After hearing mixed news about his father's role in the Trojan War, Telemachus (Tom Holland) overhears a merchant saying that a man named Odysseus arrived in Ogygia a few days prior. Telemachus, reassured by those words, goes to him for more information but the merchant disappears into thin air. In reality, it was Athena (Rachel Weisz) in disguise.
Meanwhile, Odysseus (Michael Fassbender) is continuing the story in front of Nausicaa (Olivia DeJonge), Arete (Carice Van Houten) and Alcinoo. Odysseus has recently landed on the island together with his unfortunate travel companions and after some rest he decides to visit it to retrieve some food and if it was inhabited by beasts or bloodthirsty men. He divides the expedition into two groups: one commanded by his brother-in-law Eurilochus (Joel Kinnaman) and the other by himself. Eurilochus has the task of going to the east while Odysseus to the west.
After many hours of walking Odysseus arrives in an area with a lot of fruit to pick. On the other path, Eurilochus spots a column of smoke and leads his expedition towards the source. They approach and find themselves in front of a beautiful building surrounded by wild and dangerous animals such as wolves and lions but which magically seem benign. At one point a female voice starts echoing and singing inside the building and they see a woman (Riley Keough) in a turquoise dressing gown walking around. Not seeing a woman, moreover one this beautiful, for a very long time, all of them rush to her, except Eurilochus who instead remains in her garden because he sees something dangerous in the woman. The woman introduces herself as Circe and with very kind manners she makes them sit down and serves them food and drinks. She tries to convince Eurilochus to enter the building and join the others. Meanwhile, Odysseus and his group return to the ship with many provisions. Time begins to pass and he begins to worry about not having news from Eurilochus and his group.
While Odysseus is preparing to go to look for his companions, he hears Eurilochus's desperate cries. Eurilochus is visibly tired and dehydrated and nearly passes out while he is raving about a witch and that their companions have become pigs. Odysseus decides to go and save them but Eurilochus refuses to guide him and urges him to flee and abandon men to their fate. Odysseus then chooses to go alone and on the way he meets a shepherd boy. The boy is actually Hermes, the messenger of the Gods sent by the goddess of wisdom Athena, who confirms the sad fate of the other group. Odysseus would like to throw himself to their aid, but the god stops him, telling him that this is a spell of the sorceress Circe, mistress of the island, and that to free his friends he must first of all eat a sacred flower, called Moly. After that, the hero would have presented himself to the sorceress and would have been led to her abode; Circe would certainly have given him a potion to drink by deceiving him, but Odysseus would have remained immune and would be seized by a terrible desire to stab the sorceress, but restraining himself.
Odysseus hears this prophecy and goes into the garden where he meets a beautiful and terrible woman at the same time who subjects him to riddles but Odysseus manages to solve them all. Circe, realizing that this man is different from all her other victims, decides to take him home to make him drink some wine. Suddenly Odysseus finds himself in a strange abode full of climbing plants and cages containing animals and birds of all kinds, all the prisoners of the sorceress, but he is immediately invited to sit by Circe who offers him a golden cup. Odysseus, knowing he is immune to her poison, drinks it all in one gulp, however he begins to experience excruciating pain. In the meantime Circe is close to him and starts laughing heartily, thinking that soon the unfortunate person would have turned into a pig, but suddenly she has a confused face and begins to look terrifyingly ugly because she has realized that her powers are null on this man.
Odysseus, more angry than ever, throws his sword at the sorceress, but then remembers the prophecy and does not kill her, but orders her to take him to his friends. Circe, suddenly returned beautiful and docile, accompanies him to a stable where pigs grunt desperately and turns them back into the people they were before the spell. However, due to the sudden metamorphosis, the companions find themselves disoriented and do not even recognize Odysseus, running away every time the man tries to relate to them. Circe then takes the opportunity to hold back the hero a little longer, since the effect of the magic on her companions would wear off in a few days. Circe, to ensure that the hero decides to stay with her forever, makes him drink a magical potion that makes him forget her beloved Ithaca making him want only Circe. They spend a fiery and long night of love.
At that point the scene returns to the palace of Alcinous (Thomas Jane), where murmurs and giggles begin to be heard until the king silences everyone and asks Odysseus to continue the story. He says that as the hours go by, the potion's effect slowly begins to wear off and he realizes a terrible thing. Odysseus, with great dismay, realizes that the potion has made time pass in a different way and that he has remained in the sorceress's bed for a year (which seemed to him only one day). At that point Odysseus is furious and sternly asks Circe to finally let him go. Circe, this time, reluctantly accepts, but before leaving she confides some secrets to him and above all orders him to go to the Underworld. In fact, given that many of the gods are hostile to him, Odysseus has a very uncertain and dangerous destiny when he sails on the sea, and so he needs the prophecies of the blind diviner Tiresias (Donald Sutherland), who died for some years, so that he can sail safely up to in Ithaca.
Odysseus, as Circe had told him, walks into the woods of the island, until he reaches a dark cave dug in the earth and enters it with a slight hesitation. Nausicaa intervenes and asks gently approaching Odysseus as if they were the Underworld. Odysseus describes him as he is bleak, lifeless and full of fog. The hero says that initially it was like an intricate labyrinth full of dead columns and caves and above all completely empty. In fact, Circe had advised him to bring a live kid to be slaughtered, so that the souls of the dead could appear and approach, with the hope that among them there was also Tiresias. Odysseus performs the rite and immediately a group of mournful, weeping and sighing people appears, covered by heavy gray cloaks that leave only their faces free. All come dangerously close to the victim's blood to drink it, but Odysseus drives them away with his sword because only Tiresias should have quenched his thirst. The group disappears, not before Odysseus notices his mother Anticlea Dianne Wiest) for a moment, and finally the soothsayer appears: he is white-haired, with a long beard and communicates only by whispering, and Odysseus invites him to drink. When Tiresias gets up from the ground, her figure appears even more ghostly, as she drips the kid's blood from his mouth and begins to communicate her future journey to Odysseus. He will still have to face many dangers and only in the tenth year after the destruction of Troy Odysseus will be able to embrace his family again, but he will not stay in Ithaca for long because, driven by his desire for knowledge, he will make another journey which will be the last in the life of he. Odysseus does not understand everything and leaves Tiresias to feed on the kid again, to venture deeper into the Underworld to find his mother.
After finding the souls of old heroes who had fought in the Trojan War, he manages to find his mother Anticlea, who is all alone in a particularly gloomy corner. Odysseus asks her how she died and she, crying, communicates that she passed away waiting for the arrival of her son in Ithaca. Then Odysseus realizes the atrocity and uselessness of the war fought for so many years in Troy to take back the bride of a betrayed king and to have wasted time in continuous journeys in the Mediterranean, without realizing that loved ones died of desperation waiting for him Ithaca; and remembering this, he weeps bitterly at the feet of the spirit. His mother invites him not to despair and to hurry back to the island because there is a very difficult situation Odysseus also learns of the abuses of the suitors who infest his palace, undermining Penelope's innocence, and to hear these words is seized by a fit of anger, but first tries to hug his mother's knees in vain, who disappears every time she is touched.
Odysseus, with tears in his eyes, leaves his mother and goes towards the exit where he finds Circe, who opens her palm to him, confiding in him some terrible things about his next travels: the first step to be faced is the crossing of the rock of the fearsome sirens Partenope and Leucosia and finally the last effort for Odysseus will be the stop on the island of the Trident, where the cows sacred to the god Elio graze, inviolable if one did not want to hang in the wrath of the divine master. After having confided this information she vanishes with a melancholy look leaving Odysseus confused and amazed. The hero communicates the stages to his companions and invites them to leave, but something has changed in them: they are slowly losing faith in their leader, convinced by Eurilochus. Now Odysseus' goal is to get home as quickly as possible to save Penelope from the Suitors. With an important speech Odysseus manages to convince his companions to embark to return to Ithaca and resume the journey approaching rather quickly the rock of the sirens.
Arete says that the sirens are just a false legend and that they are not real but her husband Alcinoo says that when he was young, during a sea voyage with other ships, he saw two of those ships crash in those places for no apparent reason. As he empties another cup of wine he says that his father said that mermaids are beings that are generally not visible to man, although legend has them with the bodies of birds of prey and the heads of beautiful women, and they have the power. to enchant travelers with their voice, to finally make them smash with the boat on the rock. The woman makes a face not believing all the words of her husband but still she nods.
The camera shows the two Sirens coming out of their hiding place as the ship is approaching. These are very similar to each other Odysseus' companions believe that Odysseus has gone mad, since he wants to cover their ears with wax so that they do not hear the voice. Odysseus, to show them that he is perfectly lucid, is tied by Eurilochus to the mainmast, recommending with him to hold tight if he had begged to untie it. The ship has now reached the rock and while skirting it, Odysseus glimpses the bones of the unfortunate sailors victims of the Sirens and finally begins to hear their voices that penetrate his mind, obscuring it. At this point the two Sirens reveal their presence to him. The voices insistently invite Odysseus to land on their island so that he can end his days in joy and carefree after so many years of fighting and living in pain. Eurilochus, however, holds it tight and so Odysseus, severely tested by the power of the Sirens, manages to overcome the rock together with his companions. At that point the two Sirens begin to fight very hard blaming each other for not being able to crash the ship and it seems that they are killing each other. It is not clear if this is the case.
The second stage is the crossing of a narrow gorge between two huge rocks. However Odysseus, believing that this was a dangerous path and not to get out of it alive, takes another longer route that brings him to the island of the Trident, consecrated to the god Elio for the cows that graze the grass. The ship lands on the beach and immediately a great calm falls on the area that prevents the ship from resuming its journey as soon as possible. In fact, Odysseus was forced to stop there by his companions who had diminished trust in Odysseus and had taken control of the ship following the orders of Eurilochus.
Sailors can only hope for the few provisions they possess and the prey to fish. Odysseus no longer knows what to do because Circe's prophecy had told him that if anyone dared to kill a single cow, the entire fleet would be annihilated by the gods. The hero does everything to prevent his companions, now exhausted for weeks by hunger and lack of food, fighting and continuing with the other members of his crew to avoid the death of all. One day when he climbs a cliff to implore Zeus, the misfortune happens. Eurilochus has a cow killed and feasted with the others all night long; When he comes down from the cliff he sees them and kneels and doesn't even scold them because he already knows that the fate of all of them is sealed. The following morning, after leaving the island due to the sudden return of the wind, a terrible storm arrives which destroys the ship. All the sailors were swallowed by the sea, including Eurilochus who is unable to be saved by his captain and dies last. Odysseus is saved by clinging to a beam and is tossed about for seven days until the current of the sea takes him to beach on the island of Calypso.
Odysseus ends the story with tears in his eyes as Nausicaa approaches him gently, handing him some cloth to dry them. She then asks her father to help Odysseus return home to his family. Alcinoo, convinced by his daughter and by the story of Odysseus, gives the man a new ship and a crew to reach the now nearby Ithaca. Odysseus thanks them very much, wishing the kings and especially Nausicaa the best of luck.
Meanwhile, the scene shifts to the Samo Strait. Some suitors ships commanded by Antinous (Ed Skrein) and Eurimachus (Richard Madden) are awaiting the passage of Telemachus to launch a surprise ambush on his ship to sink and kill him. With the passing of the hours in which no one passes, they begin to think that there is something strange and Eurimachus at one point sees with much disappointment that in the distance, very far from there, Telemachus's ship is headed for Ithaca without being passed by there. At that point the scene shifts to Telemachus who, advised by Athena who is protecting him in disguise, has reversed course and made another way to return to Ithaca.
Finally Odysseus arrives in Ithaca and after many years of travel, he no longer recognizes anything of that place and immediately asks a shepherd for information about the place. The boy is none other than his protector Athena who, to put him to the test, asks him who he is. Odysseus, keeping his personal details hidden, tells him that he is an unfortunate sailor from Egypt and Athena praises him for his shrewdness, transforming him into an old beggar so that he is not immediately recognized by the inhabitants and family members, so that he can better plan his revenge. . With the boy gone, Odysseus arrives in the house of Eumeo (David Denman), the pig keeper and most trusted servant of Odysseus, who welcomes him amicably as tradition dictates to any guest, obviously not recognizing him. Odysseus is amazed by the goodness of the man and begins to ask questions about the fate of that unfortunate fighter who left for Troy and never returned home, leaving his wife and son desperate, who went in search of him. Eumeo tells everything in great detail and Odysseus, although tempted to show him who he really is, does not. Meanwhile, Telemachus arrives safely in Ithaca and goes to the house of the trusted Eumeus at night to tell him about the journey, where Odysseus transformed into a beggar is also waiting for him. The climate is tense because Odysseus still struggles to lie about his true identity. At a certain point the goddess Athena appears to the hero and tells him that now he can finally unmask himself to his trusted family members and the night ends with a tender and touching embrace between Odysseus and his son weeping with joy. The following day the three plan the way to enter the court, relying on the help of Eumeo and Penelope, while the ship returns to the port with the suitors, more angry than ever for the failed attack against Telemachus.
Penelope (Jessica Chastain) is worried about her son's fate, but is relieved when she sees him appear safe and sound on the doorstep. Refreshed, Telemachus approaches her mother, gently resting his head on her knee, and asks her what Odysseus was like before her birth. Happy, Penelope remembers when her husband, poorer than ever, came to her house to ask for her hand, although chased away by her future father-in-law. He, knowing that Penelope loved him secretly, went towards her chariot and the girl had chased him, begging him to let her up. The father, beside himself with rage, stood in front of the chariot, but Odysseus overtook him anyway, avoiding him and married Penelope. In the meantime, Eumeo leads his master Odysseus, always dressed as a beggar, to the court.
Odysseus is led to court, but first he stops near an old and dirty dog: it is Argo, the dog loved by Odysseus, now dying, who recognizes his master, even after many years of absence, and finally dies happy. Odysseus secretly wipes a tear and continues. The welcome of the suitors is rude and cruel: they beat him and laugh at him, not knowing who that man really is. Telemachus cannot endure for long the abuses of the suitors against his father who is even treacherously beaten by that coward Antinous, leader of the suitors, who forces him to leave. In addition, the corpulent Armeo also arrives at the court, who boasts of being the strongest of all beggars and mistreats Odysseus, fearing that he wants to steal his place. The suitors propose to make them fight by giving away a nice piece of roast meat and they head into the courtyard. At first it seems that Armeo is about to win but at some point Odysseus manages to knock him down with a single well-aimed blow on the jaw, silencing the suitors with a look. Bleeding and staggering, Armeo falls to the ground and Odysseus places him in pain in front of a column. Penelope had witnessed all these events.
He is later summoned to a secret room, used only by Penelope, to speak with the queen in private. Penelope is intrigued by that stranger and she would like to know more about him. Odysseus, however, lies equally about his true identity and claims to have met Odysseus, describing in every detail his cloak with the golden buckle depicting a dog that tears a deer to pieces. Penelope is amazed and even deludes herself that she recognizes her beggar as her husband, but Odysseus tells her, reminding her that he is only a Minoan warrior who fell from grace after the Trojan War and became a beggar.
Euryclea is called by Penelope to wash the beggar's feet and fix him and she recognizes a scar. This is the wound inflicted on Odysseus by a boar many years earlier during a hunting trip. The woman has finally recognized her master, but he covers her mouth, fearing that she may, even if unwilling, ruin all her plans for revenge. Euriclea (Meg Foster) is silent and Odysseus goes to the stables where a young groom is grooming the horses, he had been hired by Odysseus when he was just a child. He doesn't recognize his master either. Eumeo, knowing everything, is equally silent.
He is approaching the day long awaited by the suitors, that is the one in which Penelope will decide who will be the new husband and king of Ithaca; in fact the suitors, as great rude ones, had not yet brought gifts for the queen and she, to buy time, had demanded that they bring them to her. On the same day as the delivery of the gifts, Penelope had ordered that a competition be organized with the bow of Odysseus and the winner would become her new husband. The night before the appointed day both Odysseus and Penelope pass it sleepless; the first is strongly tempted to reveal himself to the bride, the other has a vision. In fact, she imagines a large group of geese that are mowed down by the arrival of a great eagle and fears with joy and fear for the true arrival of the beloved husband.
The fateful day arrives and Penelope goes to take Odysseus' bow. It was believed that no one except the hero was able to stretch it, because the master had made it from the horns of an ox sacred to the gods and smeared it every time before using it with grease and always removed the rope when he did not need it. Telemachus also wants to enter the competition, to prevent one of the suitors from winning and holds the bow, but he is unable to pull the string. While Antinous prepares for the undertaking, he sees Odysseus begging on a horizontal beam that he places shutters side by side with a large hole in the middle of the blade, so that there was a single and perfect invisible line between the holes. of each blade.
Antinous and many other suitors, including Eurimachus, fail to draw the bow but it seems impossible. Odysseus asks to humbly try to try to use the bow. The suitors mock him but finally accept. Odysseus prepares and draws the bow, shooting the arrow and making it pass through all the holes leaving Penelope completely baffled. As soon as he sees this Antinous reacts and tries to kill him with a dagger hidden under his clothes but he fails and is pierced by an arrow on the heart. The suitors are in a panic and don't even have a weapon to defend themselves and a place to escape. The escape routes are blocked and the weapons had been sneaked away by Telemachus and Eumeus the previous night. With the help of Eumeo's son and the stable boy, they rush to suit them. The suitors all die, even Eurimachus who after trying to get clemency tries to hit Telemachus from behind but is killed by Odysseus. Subsequently also the maids who had betrayed the trust of Penelope by going to the side of the suitors perish.
Finally Odysseus has taken his revenge and is waiting for nothing more than to go to Penelope's room who witnessed the slaughter terrified and amazed. The woman is not yet fully convinced that the warrior is Odysseus, however she lets him into the room. The recognition occurs when Penelope proposes to move the nuptial bed, to which Odysseus replies that this is impossible, because that bed had been built by himself by carving it from a huge tree trunk, around which he had then built his palace. Penelope then has no more doubts and she embraces the groom crying and laughing with joy. Odysseus, moved by her, tells her all her misfortunes and with her he spends a long and happy night of love.
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