I have been a fan of Greek Mythology since I was eight years old when I read The Percy Jackson series for the first time. Since then, I have continuously read, not only Greek Myths but mythologies from around the world. I, for the most part, welcome retellings of myths as myths were mostly told through oral storytelling, thus causing the myths to change from one storyteller to the next. So to see Uberto Pasolini take the legendary epic, The Odyssey by Homer, and strip its story of its mythology and ground the tale in reality, I was excited for it. However, The Return was anything but exciting as I was bored out of my mind.
On paper, you can see the potential of The Return. A grounded retelling of Odysseus’ return to Ithaca is by all means, fascinating. Instead of Odysseus being prevented from returning home by the Gods, he is filled with shame and guilt as he is haunted by the crimes he committed during the Trojan War. Thus feels unworthy of returning home. Instead of Odysseus being trapped on the island of Ogygia by Calypso, he was simply with another woman for several years. All of these elements, and many more, shows that there was potential in The Return. But it executes all of these elements in the most boring way possible.
It felt like the events in The Return would have been resolved if everyone sat down and talked for five minutes. The narrative of The Return feels like a wheel, due to the story repeating itself every fifteen minutes for nearly two hours. There are only so many times you can show Penelope (Juliette Binoche) turn down a potential husband, or Odysseus (Ralph Fiennes) moaning about how he can’t face his wife yet due to his shame. It becomes tiring and repetitive as you wait for Odysseus to turn on Murder on the Dance Floor. But sadly, The Return is so boring that I didn’t care.
Ralph Fiennes tries his hardest to carry this film on his back. He succeeds in his portrayal of Odysseus who is struggling with PTSD from the Trojan War. Then when he turns into a killing machine by the films end, he is intimidating and brutal. But sadly, his performance can’t save this incredibly boring movie. The same could be stated for Juliette Binoche as Penelope. She isn’t really given all that much to do in The Return as she is boiled down to a widow who spends her days weaving and turning down men. The same thing could be stated for the entire cast who are not given that much to do and deserve a better film.
Overall, The Return had the potential to be a fascinating retelling of The Odyssey, but it was so focused on its modern retelling that Poseidon left it alone as he viewed the film wasn’t worth his time.
My Rating: C
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