The Odyssey, the second part of Homer's ancient heroic epic after the Iliad, has been adapted several times for cinema and television. The most famous is probably the monumental adventure film “The Voyages of Odysseus” from 1954, starring Kirk Douglas as Odysseus and Silvana Mangano in a bold dual role as the seductive Circe and Odysseus' wife Penelope. A new film has now been announced for summer 2026, directed by Christopher Nolan, which promises a “mythical action epic”. The first pictures and the cast are impressive: Matt Damon, Charlize Theron, Anne Hathaway, Tom Holland, Zendaya, Lupita Nyong'o and Robert Pattinson, among others.
With significantly less action, but also with big stars, Uberto Pasolini presents his “Return to Ithaca” – apart from the turbulent conclusion, a rather quiet, yet quite sophisticated story about the finale of the odyssey. After the ten-year siege and destruction of Troy, King Odysseus (Ralph Fiennes) wanders the sea for another ten years – and not only experiences numerous adventures, but also loses all of his companions. Eventually he washes up alone and naked on the beach of his hometown of Ithaca. The island kingdom has been in a constant state of crisis for many years. Penelope, Odysseus' wife (Juliette Binoche), still believes in her husband's return and tries by all means to defend herself against a horde of unpleasant guys who have settled on the island. They are all out to be chosen by Penelope as her new husband in order to take over the kingdom…
Odysseus (Ralph Fiennes) is no longer the same after returning from war.
So much for Homeric tradition. Uberto Pasolini turns the finale of the odyssey – including the fight and victory against the suitors and reunion with Penelope – into a shocking parable about the futility of war. The completely emaciated and very aged Odysseus no longer wants to fight, he finally wants to rest. Back on the island, he is no longer recognized by anyone – except for his slave Eumaios, who becomes his ally, and his old dog Argos, who lets Odysseus pet him one last time and dies immediately afterwards. Smart and cunning as he still is – after all, he invented the Trojan Horse that helped conquer Troy – Odysseus remains incognito, even to his wife and son Telemachus (Charlie Plummer, “Moonfall”).
But nothing comes of the peace he was hoping for, because first he has to get rid of the suitors, all of them spoiled and dirty aristocrats who behave in Ithaca like a gang of testosterone-crazed small-town rockers who know neither law nor mercy. They take what they can get – looting, raping and murdering. Penelope tries in vain to get the situation under control and has almost given up…
The End of the Odyssey as a thriller and anti-war parable
Although the ending is known, it is all incredibly exciting: a dark, melancholic story of timeless significance, an anti-war thriller, but also a character drama of rarely seen intensity and quality. Ralph Fiennes (“Conclave”) still seems to improve from film to film. As Odysseus, he proves that he is in enviable shape – and not just for his age – and he puts in an astonishing performance as a lonely, tired warrior. His Odysseus is internally torn and guilt-ridden, a man with melancholy eyes that have seen too much. The trauma of war is inside him and he will never be able to get rid of it. He survived without knowing why – he cannot forget and has become a different person. No wonder no one recognizes him. In the legend, Athena gives him the form of a beggar, but Pasolini gets by without miracles or gods. This Odysseus could have fought at any time and anywhere, from Vietnam to Afghanistan, in the Middle East to Ukraine.
Penelope shares the fate of women who stay at home: she lives in constant fear for her husband and her family. The war destroyed not only his life but also hers. The pretty libertines who surround and harass her bother her almost less than the uncertainty of what has become of Odysseus. Is he still alive? Did he also murder and rape, like the suitors? Could she even still love him if he came back? Penelope has been weaving the shroud for her father-in-law Laertes for years in order to keep the suitors at bay. During the day she weaves diligently and at night she secretly unravels everything again. This is how she gains time. But for how much longer?
Odysseus' courageous wife Penelope (Juliette Binoche) has a basically impossible task in store for the suitors.
Juliette Binoche, whose sad look creates both closeness and distance, is heartbreaking in her pride and seemingly unshakable calm. In the end, Penelope must decide whether to sacrifice herself to save her country and perhaps her son Telemachus. She is braver than Odysseus, she goes all out by giving the suitors an impossible task that only Odysseus can actually accomplish: draw his bow and shoot an arrow through the holes of twelve axes lined up one behind the other. For Odysseus it's also about everything: about himself, Penelope, his son and his old life – about what once was and will never come back.
Conclusion: With “Return to Ithaca”, Uberto Pasolini has staged a subtle thriller that is also convincing as an exquisitely acted character drama: the end of the Homeric legend as a psychological study of war and its terrible consequences. With a furious finale!