Emily Wilson Blasts Nolan's Odyssey Film
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- Emily Wilson, the classicist whose 2017 Odyssey translation Nolan cited in early publicity, published a scathing essay in the London Review of Books criticizing his film adaptation as confused and superficial.
- Wilson wrote that the film 'has nothing convincing to say' and 'lacks psychological, emotional, political and ethical depth,' calling its narrative structure 'gimmicky' and its writing 'abysmal.'
- Wilson declared: 'I would be ashamed to have written any part of this script,' and told the Sunday Times the film 'didn't land emotionally' — asking, 'Do I really care if this guy gets back to his wife?'
- Wilson, department chair and professor of classical studies at the University of Pennsylvania, said the film conveyed 'big bangs and big giants' but nothing convincing about 'time, memory, history, war' or the relationships central to Homer's poem.
- Despite the broadside, Wilson acknowledged the film's cultural impact, noting translations of the Odyssey are 'flying off the shelves' and thanking Nolan for getting 'the general public reading again.'
- Wilson noted Nolan had admired the opening line of her translation — 'Tell me about a complicated man' — but said the film's characters lacked the motivation or depth of Homer's originals.
Why it matters: A credentialed Homer scholar — the very translator Nolan himself cited to promote the film — publicly calling the writing 'abysmal' gives scholarly weight to criticisms of the adaptation. Wilson's own concession that the film is driving Odyssey translation sales suggests its cultural footprint may overshadow any single version's quality.
