The Return review: Uberto Pasolini’s take on The Odyssey
Uberto Pasolini’s new drama comes to cinemas with the curious fate of being compared to a film
that isn’t even out yet. Christopher Nolan is currently filming his next project The Odyssey, based on Homer’s epic poem. The Return is an adaptation of the final parts of that same poem, meaning scrutiny will be paid to something other than Ralph Fiennes’ body transformation.
The Conclave star is shirtless and shredded as Odysseus, the king of Ithica, who washes up on his home island after twenty years at war. The only survivor of his army, he finds his kingdom ravaged by brutal suitors, all competing for the hand of Queen Penelope (Juliette Binoche), who refuses to believe her husband is dead. Unrecognisable to anyone, Odysseus is racked with trauma, but must overcome his past to save those he loves.
A beautifully shot film, Corfu stands in for most of Ithica, giving the film grounded realism. Pasolini has stripped away all the spirituality and magic of the source material, making Odysseus’ return a psychological study of his grief, as well as Penelope’s faith. Unfortunately, this means a lot of the majesty is lost from the story, with the pace slowing and much of the film resting on Fiennes’ shoulders.
Luckily, he can bear that weight. Sporting wild hair and a look of suffering, he makes the king a soldier unable to shake the horrors of war. Moving through each scene as if he came in from some other, better movie, he puts so much into his performance that you can’t help but watch in awe. The rest of the cast are solid, particularly Binoche, Fiennes’ former co-star in The English Patient. Fighting off a number of overacting suitors with a defiant stare, she is the epitome of a woman trying to survive in a male dominated world, knowing that picking a new husband could condemn her and her son, played a limp and passionless Charlie Plummer.
The Return offers an acting masterclass from its lead, but little of the kind of dynamic storytelling it takes to make the source material memorable. It’s perhaps best viewed as a gritty introduction to Nolan’s larger scale retelling next year.
The Return is in cinemas from April 11