Franco Piavoli’s lyrical retelling of Homer largely dispenses with dialogue in favour of visual storytelling. Its emphasis is on Odysseus’s struggle with his memory, from the childhood memories and recollections of love that were formative to the experiences of war that are now part of him too. As he tries to hold on to who he is rather than submitting to his recent traumas, the film is less a recounting of the poem’s events than a philosophical depiction of its hero’s longing for a place called ‘home’.

Notes by Kevin Coyne.

The screening will be introduced by Helen Meany, Festival Director of Classics Now.

Screening as part of the IFI’s Odysseys season throughout July.

Tickets for 70mm screenings of Christopher Nolan’s The Odyssey on sale now!