The Return

In Uberto Pasolini’s riveting adaptation of Homer’s epic tale, monsters and mythical creatures have been expunged in favour of an all-too-human portrait of the ravages of conflict and time, as a weary leader arrives home to a changed world.

Odysseus returns home to Ithaka, some 20 years after he departed with his army to fight in the Trojan War. While he faced the tumult of conflict and subsequent trials, Penelope, his wife, was challenged by the avarice of politicians and the discontent of a nation. Their reunion should be a moment of joy. But the burden of guilt and grief that Odysseus shoulders, combined with shame over his scarred body, leaves him pained to present himself to his queen. For her part, Penelope has been ground down by political forces in her fight to maintain Ithaka’s throne. 

Uberto Pasolini’s emotionally intense drama, rapturously shot by Marius Panduru, sheds the battles and mythical elements of Homer’s tale in favour of a chamber portrait of two damaged lovers. Ralph Fiennes and Juliette Binoche are mesmerising in their first on-screen pairing since 1996’s The English Patient. Fiennes’ physical transformation is as impressive as his subtlety in conveying Odysseus’ anguish. While Binoche, at her most incandescent in a role that grounds this human drama in all-too-real terms, reminds us of the price paid by those who don’t charge off to war, but are left to face equally challenging hardships.

– Ian Haydn Smith

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