The Odyssey, The Northman, and Three Doors to the past

Comments · 1.3K

• SH

  @shovas · 1 month ago · pinned

  I hate watched this video right up until the last 30 seconds and then gave it a wholehearted like. Well played, sir.

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• BR

  @brianjohnson4082 · 1 month ago

  I would like to point out that though the Northman did loose money on the theatrical run. It did eventually make a profit on the digital and physical release.

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• RO

  @RockApePlanet · 1 month ago

  My God the movie we'd have if Eggers made The Odyssey.

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• NA

  @natebit8130 · 1 month ago

  I loved the Northman because of its commitment to accuracy. The commitment is what I want in more films.

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• OZ

  @ozarkman291 · 1 month ago

  I appreciate that Eggers makes Eggers movies and not share holder movies, his commitment is purely to his story which is art in a corporate world. Even if his art isn't appealing to all it never ceases to be art unapologetically.

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• VA

  @vavrikmartin · 1 month ago

  I really appreciated this essay, especially your distinction between adaptations that preserve the strangeness of myth and those that translate it into a moral language we already understand. <br> <br>I would only push back on one point: Homer’s Odysseus does have an arc, just not a modern “becoming a better person” arc. His problem is not cunning itself. <b>Metis</b> is his defining strength, and Athena values it. The problem is his inability to restrain his ego. <br> <br>He escapes the Cyclops by becoming “Nobody,” but then ruins that victory by shouting back his real name so that the glory will belong to him. On Ithaca, he has learned the opposite lesson: he remains disguised, endures humiliation, waits, and uses cunning in the service of <b>nostos</b> rather than *kleos*. That is a real transformation—from cleverness serving pride to cleverness governed by self-command. <br> <br>So Nolan did not need to “fix” Odysseus by giving him guilt over the Trojan Horse. He replaced an ancient moral structure with a very familiar modern one. <br> <br>There may also be a cultural difference here. Many Americans encounter this story mainly through the film; for many Europeans, Odysseus, Penelope, Troy, the Cyclops and the Sirens have been part of our imagination since childhood. We do not meet Nolan’s hero as a new character. We meet someone already named Odysseus—and therefore expect the ancient story to remain in the room.

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• EM

  @emarfentemel · 1 month ago

  It wasn&apos;t just because Poseidon got pissed off. It was Oddyseus&apos;s ego as he had to take credit for the outsmarting of the cyclops and tell him his real name

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• AU

  @austincotton4279 · 1 month ago

  &quot;You can&apos;t be transformed by your own reflection.&quot; Loved this, great analysis all around.

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• CH

  @christopherrex8203 · 1 month ago

  A thoughtful and engaging critique off Nolan&apos;s film with real points to make <br>The Discourse is healing. thank God haha

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• HY

  @Hyperguyver2 · 1 month ago

  This feels like an absolute distillation of every conversation I have had about The Odyssey and why I krep going back to The Northman.

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• LI

  @Lilydu972mag · 1 month ago

  Odysseus&apos; main flaw was never his smarts. It was his hubris. The entire story of the Odyssey is basically how to humble this one guy lol

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• AM

  @AmberErison · 1 month ago

  In Homer’s The Odyssey, Odysseus does have a huge character flaw. It’s not his cunningness; we see how both Penelope’s and Odysseus’s “metis” is a good thing. It’s the reason Athena likes him so much. His character flaw, and what Athena ultimately punishes him for, is his hubris. He needs to go out into the world and prove himself a hero even though he already he is. Instead of returning home to his family, he spends a ridiculous amount of time trying to prove himself, traveling to different parts of the globe. He abandons his family and Athena’s punishment for that (which every retelling forgets) is that he has to travel for the rest of his days. Like the Northman, an ending like this forces us to confront our own issues instead of telling us what our morals should be like Nolan’s film. I totally agree with your points in the video and I think it needed to be said. Thank you.

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