14/17

After 20 years, Odysseus finally returns to Ithaca, where he finds his wife captured by suitors vying to become king, and his son facing death at their hands. To reclaim his family and all he has lost, Odysseus must rediscover his strength. This is the third time Ralph Fiennes and Juliette Binoche have starred together in a film. They previously worked together in Wuthering Heights (1992) and The English Patient (1996).. Penelope: How can people find their way to war, but not their way home? The Odyssey: For Some, War Becomes Home.. Focused on immersing the viewer in the multifactorial pain and suffering of Penelope and Odysseus during Odysseus’s return home to Ithaca, this treatise seemed to explore quite systematically the challenges many soldiers face upon returning from active duty, including PTSD and other mental health issues, reintegration into their former lives with family and society, and retrospective memories of both the pain endured and inflicted, and the resulting internal change that is irreversible. The return is driven by a brilliant cast selection to allow the viewer to experience this rollercoaster ride on which the two key protagonists ride to remarkable heights, the latter thanks to the unique and special endurance of Penelope and Odysseus during this difficult period in their lives, and each without the other as a support. In fact, the two are quite separated for much of the build-up, which only makes the catharsis stronger in the most intense, thriller-like later part of an otherwise slow-paced film. Fiennes brings his unique style of portraying suffering to this work – a great extension of his wonderful skills from his neighboring portrayals of pain and anguish in Spider and The End of the Affair. Binoche is a perfect choice for Penelope because the viewer could be somewhat tricked into feeling and hoping that the two will reunite in a similar way to how close they were during The English Patient, and Pasolini uses this to build additional tension in this work for those whose memories of The English Patient are vivid. This is a great and very relevant work that must be experienced!

Vitam Vitam 2025