welcome to my πολύτροπος mind

It's so different from the source that I feel more open to the creative choices made, it isn't overly self serious (Nolan, ahem) and it's probably my favourite Odysseus depiction I've seen so far, really leans into his tricky scoundrel side. So many adaptions make him this heroic figure, which sure I guess, but oh brother Odysseus I can absolutely see lieing to Athena and testing his wife. Not the best depiction of Penelope but I do like that she's making choices of her own in the context of the movie and isn't reduced the wife back home.

I've always liked the movie but I liked it a lot more after reading the Odyssey, I just have no-one to talk to about it. Do you have any thoughts? Again it's a pretty fast and loose adaption but I love how original it is compared to most adaptions.

i've seen o brother where art thou a few times! i enjoy it a lot. as you point out, the creative choices go down easier because the inspiration is so loose (iirc the coen brothers did not read the odyssey, lol). historically it has been the case for me that i am willing to give more grace the further removed we get in setting. it's easier to make the creative vision Your Own (and not like, American War Movie But In "Greece") and harder to um actually when you're set in the south or the far reaches of space. (shout out to you, star trek calypso, ulysses dies at dawn, ody-c, etc)

my biggest disappointment with it is likewise that i feel holly hunter's penny gets a short shrift, but george clooney gives an incredible performance as a scoundrel and a trickster, which the satirical humor allows them to lean into. there are certainly grim and heartbreaking aspects to the odyssey, but there's a fun side too. and the folk music delights me!