Starring: Ralph Fiennes, Juliette Binoche, Charlie Plummer, Marwan Kenzari
Distributor: Limelight
Runtime: 116 mins. Reviewed in Apr 2025
Reviewer: Fr Peter Malone msc
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After 20 years Odysseus finally returns to Ithaca, where he finds his wife held prisoner by suitors vying to be king and his son facing death at their hands. To win back his family and all he has lost, Odysseus must rediscover his strength.
One of the most significant returns in classical literature is that of Odysseus and his long journey after the end of the Trojan War to his native Ithaca. In the past, there have been a number of films about the adventures of Odysseus/Ulysses on the trip home. This version focuses on the last part of Homer’s epic. Which means that there are none of the adventurous and mythological episodes. It opens with a naked Odysseus stranded on the beach of Ithaca. He is found and cared for by a sympathetic slave. When Odysseus revives, he keeps his identity secret and appears as a beggar.
Which means this is a rather gripping personal drama, especially with Fiennes as Odysseus. The audience is able to appreciate what is happening to him not only through what he says but with the intensity that Fiennes is able to communicate with his body language.
Penelope (Binoche) is the wife that he left behind. She waits for him, believing that he will return. Besieged by suitors, she sits at her loom daily, declaring she will name a suitor after she finishes the garment she is working on but pulls it apart at night, to start again the next day. She has been waiting 20 years – 10 years of the Trojan war and 10 years of her husband’s travels. There is also their son, Telemachus (Plummer), disturbed by his father’s absence, by his mother’s behaviour, and the collapsed state of Ithaca in Odysseus’s absence.
Ithaca is in chaos. There is a mounting number of suitors for her hand, lounging around, violent, demanding of Penelope. And she continues to resist, supported by her devoted nurse (Angela Molina).
And, so the questions. Will Odysseus make himself known? Will Penelope recognise him after this time? How will he encounter his son and what will be Telemachus’ reaction? And what of the suitors and their idleness, exploiting the inhabitants of Ithaca?
The climax builds. Penelope has named the day to nominate the suitors she would choose. They gather. Odysseus in disguise is present. Telemachus is also present. And, as in the epic, Penelope demands that the suitors emulate Odysseus with his bow and arrow to be the successful suitor.
Suddenly, violence is let loose, Odysseus manifesting himself, a vicious eruption, combat, slaughter, and the drama of the aftermath for Odysseus and Penelope, in view of what they we have seen. Will they be able to come together after the 20 years of physical and emotional distance.
With its serious dialogue, with its pauses, the intense drama, often interior, The Return plays something like an opera without the singing and music. Others have suggested that it is performed rather in the manner of a Shakespearean play. This is important to note for audiences who might have different expectations about this version of Homer, this time not the odyssey as such, but, as the title highlights, the intensity of The Return.
[It is a surprise to find that the film has been cowritten and directed by Italian born, British director, Uberto Pasolini, a long-time producer, directing only four films including two beautifully quiet and recommended British films, Still Life and Nowhere Special.]
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