Speaker A
The biggest risk in motion pictures is to not take a risk. I wouldn't necessarily describe it as a superhero movie, but it is a super movie.
Christopher Nolan's adaptation of The Odyssey redefines cinematic storytelling with epic scale, practical effects, and timeless themes.
Key Takeaways
- The Odyssey is being adapted by Christopher Nolan with a focus on practical effects and epic scale.
- The story’s timeless themes make it relevant to diverse audiences and generations.
- Nolan’s filmmaking process is rigorous, collaborative, and demands high physical and creative effort.
- IMAX film format is used to deliver a superior visual experience, emphasizing naturalism.
- The film represents a significant cultural event aimed at revitalizing cinema-going experiences.
Summary
- Christopher Nolan is adapting The Odyssey, a foundational tale never before told in modern film at this scale.
- The film explores timeless themes like war, homecoming, family, loyalty, and PTSD through a modern lens.
- Nolan emphasizes practical effects, filming large-scale battle scenes with real people rather than CGI.
- Actors describe Nolan's directing style as challenging but grounding, fostering a team environment.
- The lead actor shares the surreal experience of being cast and the depth of character development.
- The production uses IMAX film for its superior naturalism and sharpness, enhancing the cinematic experience.
- The film aims to resonate with multiple generations, offering different thematic entry points for viewers.
- Nolan’s approach involves adapting the story freely beyond the original language, focusing on story movements and motifs.
- The scale and ambition of the project are described as unprecedented by the cast and crew.
- There is a cultural movement to revive love for cinema, with Nolan’s film positioned as a high-quality theatrical event.
Chapters
- 00:00Introduction to The Odyssey and Nolan’s Vision
- 00:33Nolan’s Previous Work and Taking on The Odyssey
- 01:10The Cultural Gap and Timeless Themes of The Odyssey
- 01:52Themes: War, Homecoming, and Coming-of-Age
- 02:37Freedom in Adaptation and Storytelling Approach
- 03:13Casting and Actor Experiences
- 04:10Character Depth and Nolan’s Writing
- 05:57Filmmaking Challenges and Practical Effects
- 08:20IMAX Film and Cinematic Experience
- 14:03Reviving Love for Cinema and Final Thoughts
Full Transcript — Download SRT & Markdown
Speaker A
The reason the story's endured for 3,000 years is it has resonated with every generation. It never went away.
Speaker A
Being a Christopher Nolan film, you're going to be asked to jump higher than you've ever jumped, run faster than you've ever run.
Speaker A
You happy to start, Tom? Oh, yeah. Great. [music] Sorry, this is Dave. This is Tom. Bye.
Speaker A
Christopher Nolan, we met 3 years ago just ahead of the release of Oppenheimer, and that was a film about kind of one of the most consequential figures of the 20th century. You've now taken on one of the most consequential
Speaker A
works of literature of all time. Is it the film that you always were itching to make?
Speaker A
I had a couple of images for this film. I mean, in particular, this idea of the Trojan Horse of sort of trying to show it with fresh eyes.
Speaker A
That's been in my head for about 20 years because I was briefly attached to direct the film Troy for Warner Brothers.
Speaker A
But I mean, you know, you're looking for a gap in movies. You're looking for a gap in the culture. And for whatever reason, the Odyssey, that foundational tale that we all kind of know so well, has never been told
Speaker A
in modern film. There are themes in the Odyssey that relate to everyday life.
Speaker A
You know, the importance, the desire to belong, love, family, loyalty, consequences. You know, it's also a really interesting insight into war and the consequences and the PTSD.
Speaker A
I do think there's a lot in it for young men. I think there's a lot in it for men my age, and women my age, young women. You know, depending on again where you are in your life,
Speaker A
it could be a coming-of-age story if you're thinking about Telemachus. It could be a story about war. It could be a story about homecoming. You know, it's just so thematically rich.
Speaker A
[cheering] I think a lot of people feel a degree of ownership over the Odyssey.
Speaker A
And so which isn't a problem for me because I just look at this as Christopher Nolan's interpretation of the Odyssey, the way generations before have interpreted it for themselves. So I just walk in 100% curious about what's it going
Speaker A
to be. And so I don't struggle with that, but I am curious about whether or not other people are going to be able to put themselves in the passenger seat and go along for the ride.
Speaker A
Well, I'm adapting. You know, I'm able to do whatever I want with it, really.
Speaker A
I mean, you know, I'm not bound by the language. I'm working beyond the language. I'm just looking at the story. And in the story, and I think this is why it sustains even though some of the values of it are
Speaker A
obviously archaic and outdated, but the story movements, the motifs, the ways in which human beings interact, they do have this timeless quality, and you can look at them through a modern lens.
Speaker A
So when I got the call, it was how quickly can you get on a plane to Los Angeles because I live in New York with my family.
Speaker A
And I said I don't think I've missed all the flights today, but how about tomorrow?
Speaker A
We were chatting for I don't know, 10 or 15 minutes before he totally buried the lead. Then he said, "Oh, by the way, you know, I'm thinking of going back to work." And
Speaker A
so he said, "Yeah, I'd like to offer you the lead role." And I just said, "Yeah." And he was, "Don't you want to hear what it is?" I said, "Sure." And then he said it's a two-word
Speaker A
pitch, The Odyssey. He pitched me the movie. I was obviously blown away. I accepted the part. I went home that night and read it, and I read it with Z, which I don't know if I was supposed to
Speaker A
do. And then I sat down with Chris the next day. We chatted through the script.
Speaker A
He asked me if I would be okay with him asking Z to play Athena.
Speaker A
I was like, "Why would I not be okay with that?" So, I went home and I was able to break the news to her. She just at the little corners of her mouth went up. She had a little smile and then
Speaker A
we both started jumping around the kitchen. You know, at first I didn't know it was going to be the Odyssey.
Speaker A
And I didn't know what the role was. I just felt like it was very surreal.
Speaker A
And then he led me to the area of his home, which was the same area that I had read Interstellar.
Speaker A
And I just sat there and I just took the entire thing in.
Speaker A
And just from the jump, I thought this isn't the Penelope that I've come to expect. She had so much passion and fire. I just thought this is a volcano of a woman. And he is such a master director and a brilliant writer. Sometimes we don't remember what an incredible writer he is.
Speaker A
My son walked into my office while I was writing on the Odyssey and said, "You know, where are your Oscars?" He'd been away for the whole time and I said, "Well," I said to him very seriously, I was
Speaker A
like, "Well, I'm trying to write a new project and I've got Oscars sitting there on the shelf." You know, think about how daunting that would be whatever. And he looked at me and said, "But you didn't win for
Speaker A
writing." [laughter] The first thing I said to him was, "Wow, this is in a lot of the same themes as Oppenheimer." You know, that this guy paying the price for his ingenuity and carrying that and yeah, again, I
Speaker A
do think it's, you know, that was a really, as an actor I had so much to play. There's so much to play in this character. Not only in terms of things that are happening to
Speaker A
him, but in terms of what he's going through and what he's living with.
Speaker A
Every film you're trying to build on what you've learned and move into something different and challenge yourself. But for the audience, every film is a unique thing, you know, you're a unique story. So you really have to try
Speaker A
and view it that way. I think it's very dangerous as a director to start looking at a career or a continuity or, you know, that. I mean, I really try to just dive into a story and spend a couple of
Speaker A
years working on that. Chris doesn't treat you like actors. I think in the rest of our business, actors can be really precious.
Speaker A
And he strips you of that freedom. And he kind of grounds you. And is that nice? Is that a relief?
Speaker A
It's amazing because it means that everyone is on a level playing field. Everyone there is as integral to the final outcome of the film as one another.
Speaker A
And does that mean you're not getting special treatment in terms of hotels or whatever?
Speaker A
No, no, no. Like, you know, your hotel is the same hotel as every crew member is staying in. The food that you eat at lunch is the same food. And it just means that you're part of the
Speaker A
team. You're part of the family. You're part of the furniture. Before I knew Chris as well as I do now, I think I was very aware of it being a Christopher Nolan film. Now that I've had, you know, first-hand experience
Speaker A
of three times, I know that what that means is you're going to be asked to jump higher than you've ever jumped, run faster than you've ever run.
Speaker A
And an entire crew of people are doing the exact same thing. It's a joy.
Speaker A
It's just the way I was made. I like working hard. And I love being challenged. I think it's the only way that you get better.
Speaker A
I know that he said to you, he warned you it's going to be very hard. And you said, I think, that's fine. Did you realize quite how hard?
Speaker A
Well, then he reiterated it. Because I said, "Yeah, yeah, yeah." And he goes, "No. This is going to be really hard." And I said, "I got it. Okay." And yeah, he did not disappoint. It's such an ambitious story to tell at this scale
Speaker A
and the way he does it, he wants everything to be in camera. So, if you see a thousand people battling, there are a thousand people actually doing that in camera. There's no computer-generated people.
Speaker A
It's a so, the s
Speaker A
It's It's a So, the scale of it was just just I mean, bigger than anything I've ever ever seen.
Speaker A
But, were you walking that 45 minutes up to that palace every I mean, how tough was it for you physically?
Speaker A
I would have. I offered. It was originally asked and I said, "No problem." I had my boots ready to go to hike up to the top. The executive decision was made that because Penelope was the queen and it she
Speaker A
couldn't arrive looking as rugged as the suitors or some of the other members of the Ithacan royal court. Um that I should be helicoptered up.
Speaker A
You have talked, I think, in the past about one of the brilliant things about being an actor is that you do get to learn new things, try new things. What was new for you?
Speaker A
I mean, I did a lot of sword fighting, which I loved. Useful in future life?
Speaker A
I mean, if someone broke into my house, then, you know, I I You're keeping a sword at home now?
Speaker A
I have a cricket bat, [laughter] actually, and I can you can wield that in a sword-like fashion. We did a lot of archery, which was really fun, and Matt and I bonded quite a lot at the beginning of the prep stage having
Speaker A
archery competitions, which was really awesome. Well, it was it was really interesting to kind of translate what the world that I live in and what my idea of being a loving mother is to 3,000 years ago.
Speaker A
And so, it was very interesting to I know this is going to sound silly, but go to a pre-therapy world.
Speaker A
You know, there's no such thing as gentle parenting in ancient Greece. Um that's not that the stakes were really really high. And there was a kind of a an sometimes a need for her to scare him in order to keep him safe.
Speaker A
It feels a little bit like this is the last chance for me to play a boy.
Speaker A
And I'm starting this new chapter of my life. And the first film that I ever did, the premiere was at the BFI here at the IMAX, and I haven't been there since.
Speaker A
And tonight the premiere is at the BFI at the IMAX. So, it feels like a kind of really perfectly full-rounded moment.
Speaker A
We We haven't done the sort of Shakespearean English accents. We have He hasn't used an orchestra. He's tried to kind of break the mold so that modern audiences can come and see this film and don't feel like they're looking up to
Speaker A
the movie. He wants you to be a part of the movie. He wants you to be one of Odysseus' crew, you know? And I think shooting it on IMAX is is probably his secret weapon.
Speaker A
The thing about IMAX as a as a brand and as a as a format is it's always stood for the highest quality imaging format.
Speaker A
And I started using their equipment on The Dark Knight where we shot the action sequences. It was really really cool, really fun. You know, a great way to to make the cameras bigger, uh work on a bigger canvas. What we
Speaker A
hadn't been able to do is the dialogue scenes, the intimate scenes, cuz the cameras are incredibly loud. Um with the Odyssey, we have working with IMAX who made a blimping system, a way of quietening the camera. So, we were
Speaker A
able to shoot, you know, all the dialogue that way. Then we could do the whole film in IMAX. It's the first time it's been done. So, they blimped this thing which then makes it over 300 lb and very unwieldy. It messes with the
Speaker A
eyelines. So, your eyeline is really important when you're shooting for shooting your close-up and I'm your scene partner, the lens might be here. I'm going to put my face up against it and and cuz we want your eyes as close to the lens so
Speaker A
the audience can really see what's what's happening for you. Um if it's got a giant box around it, uh you know, the lens is here and I'm your scene partner and I'm way over here and now your eyeline isn't close to the
Speaker A
lens. So, Chris devised a mirror system where they would put a mirror [clears throat] here and as your scene partner I would look into the mirror which would then reflect into another one that was right next to the lens. And
Speaker A
so, we would do the scene together, but you would do it to the mirror. Oddly enough, um like when I think of these really intense scenes that I did with Annie, in my memory, I don't remember that I
Speaker A
was looking into a mirror. I I I just remember her eyes. And so, it it it ended up working uh as as well as we could have hoped, and we were able to to just carry on and do the whole thing.
Speaker A
You know, when when Hollywood makes a mistake, it's always the same mistake, which is to forget how much people want something new, how much they want something they haven't seen before, they don't know that they want. Um because obviously
Speaker A
it's easier to analyze things that have worked in the past and kind of follow that path. Um but the way I like to determine it is, you know, the the biggest risk in motion pictures is to not take a risk. Um you
Speaker A
have to be putting it out there and and offering people something new, and that's what'll get them out of their houses. One of the reasons I shoot on celluloid film is, it's the best analogy for the way the
Speaker A
eye sees that's ever been created. So, if you want naturalism, you want to sort of show somebody the way the world looks, you know, celluloid film's the way to do it. And in particular, IMAX film is very sharp with its huge
Speaker A
negative and all that. And it's something that you'll never have in your house. No one's going to be putting 70 mm projectors in their living room. I mean, I do have one at home, but See, I was going to say, do you have an
Speaker A
enormous TV? How big is your TV? I got a fairly big TV, but I have a screening room with film projectors as well. And that's, you know, that's the real treat. Uh but no, no, I have a very, you know, 4K TV.
Speaker A
You know, but 99% of the people who've seen Goodwill Hunting saw it at home on a TV at this point, right? Not many people A lot of people weren't even born when it came out. You know, I'm glad
Speaker A
people have really good home systems, but the experience of going to the theater is special. And it's it's it's almost like going to church. It's like you you have to show up at an appointed time. You know, you have to make a plan.
Speaker A
If you have kids, you need to get a babysitter. And you go into a a dark room with, you know, strangers with the people in your community and you have this common experience.
Speaker A
And I think that what he said something yesterday in an interview which I thought was so awesome. But it was something to do with like we've shot this movie to the absolute highest quality, the highest technical quality possible.
Speaker A
And I hope that that inspires more filmmakers to follow in his footsteps, to achieve that stuff with the IMAX camera, to to tell stories in new ways, to break boundaries because that's what art is and that's what cinema is. And it feels
Speaker A
like with younger people there is this real movement to love the cinema again. And to be a cinephile is something to be celebrated.
Speaker A
And for me, I couldn't be more excited because I've really fallen in love going back to the cinema.
Topics:Christopher NolanThe Odysseycinematic historyIMAXpractical effectsepic filmfilm adaptationancient literaturecinema experienceBBC News
