ATHENS – Christopher Nolan’s “The Odyssey” drew criticism in Greece in the weeks leading up to the film’s release, particularly over the casting of Black actor Lupita Nyong’o as Helen of Troy, amid a broader debate about how one of the world’s most enduring myths should be retold.
But after moviegoers saw the film over its opening weekend in Greece, where Homer’s epic remains deeply embedded in cultural identity, the response appeared to be largely enthusiastic.
As crowds left cinemas in Athens after three hours of the IMAX-filmed epic on Friday night, many said they were excited that a work written nearly three millennia ago had inspired a major global production, bringing to the screen scenes they first encountered in the classroom.
“I was captivated,” said Costas Anastassiadis, 55. “It took me back 45 years, when we were reading the story at school.”
Despite the film’s scale and technological ambition, he said the effects had served rather than overshadowed the story. “This hero doesn’t need graphics or CGI,” he said. “The text transcends everything.”
