The Return

Bluesky

Reworking Homer's epic about a King returning to his homeland after an absence of 20 years, Uberto Pasolini studiously avoids any suggestion of the mythic. That extends beyond notions of gods and monsters to the sort of mythic status that is often thrust upon those returning from war, elevating them to heroes whether they like it or not.

Reality hasn't just bitten Odysseus (Ralph Fiennes) it has mauled him for good measure. When he washes up on his home island of Ithaca, he is a broken man who can barely haul himself out of the waves. If he is unrecognisable, so is the place that he left. A rowdy horde of suitors have gathered outside the palace, pressuring Queen Penelope (Juliette Binoche) to remarry. She has pledged to do so as soon as she finishes a funeral shroud for her ageing father-in-law Laertes (Nikitas Tsakiroglou) - who, in fact, is not dead yet - unpicking it in secret in the dead of night. If the testosterone outside the walls wasn't enough, she's also facing the toxic outbursts of her son Telemachus (Charlie Plummer).

Taken in by swineherd Eumaes (Claudio Santamaria), Odysseus's physical wounds begin to heal but the script by Pasoli, John Collee and Edward Bond (for whom it was his last work) makes it clear that the psychological damage runs deep. A handsome production, Marius Panduru makes particularly good use of flickering fire and candlelight to add atmosphere. Fiennes is lean in look and in performance, bringing an intensity that proves compelling. The strength of approach helps to deliver moments that, in other hands, could have fallen into cliche, such as Odysseus's faithful hound slipping off this mortal coil as soon as he has recognised his returned master.

Binoche has fractionally less to do as she rebuffs her suitors, in particular the smoothly predatory Antinous (Marwan Kenzari), but a key scene where she encounters but, at least on the surface of things, does not recognise her husband, crackles like fire. The prince/pauper device at play here is a classic, which lends the action an almost Shakespearen vibe. Plummer, quite possibly due to the writing, is the weakest element in the main cast, his character seeming more petulant than anything in a world that feels as though it wouldn't entertain that sort of emotion for long.

While the film brings home the emotional turmoil of lovers trying to overcome their pain, Pasolini proves less adept at delivering action pieces. Where the static and measured approach works for the potent interplay between characters, it leaves a climatic moment of violence enervated, the movements too sluggish for the stakes at play. Christopher Nolan will be having another go at the Odyssey stories shortly but Matt Damon will have to go some to beat Fiennes sinewy and damaged display.

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