Final Rating: 4/5
From director Umberto Pasolini, The Return is the first major direct adaptation of Homer’s Odyssey since 1954’s Ulysses. Focusing on the events of Odysseus’ return to Ithaca after the Trojan War, The Return retains the setting of ancient Greece but strips away fantasy to convey a timeless message of how wars continue to haunt everyone long after they end.
Several years after the end of the Trojan War, Ithaca is dying. In King Odysseus’ (Ralph Fiennes) absence, Queen Penelope (Juliette Binoche) reluctantly hosts suitors who spend their days eating all the island’s food and abusing its residents. Telemachus (Charlie Plummer), the prince, is unable to convince his mother to choose one of the suitors, while she instead spends her days weaving an elaborate shroud for her dying father-in-law. In Ithaca’s darkest hour, a strange man washes up on shore: Odysseus has finally returned to reclaim his kingdom.
But on his return, Odysseus is not the same man as when he left. Traumatized by his role in the destruction of Troy, Odysseus refuses to even make himself known.
As the only remaining soldier from Ithaca, how can he face his comrades’ wives? How can he explain his long journey home? Were his adventures more important than his people?
The Return is full of outstanding layered performances. Fiennes’ tortured approach to Odysseus more closely resembles a Vietnam veteran than a mythic hero. Binoche’s Penelope is by far the most powerful and strong-willed person on Ithaca, but without a king, her position as acting queen means nothing.
The standout is Marwan Arzani, playing Antinous, the most prominent of Penelope’s suitors. Shrewd and politically-savvy, Antinous would certainly make an effective king, if not necessarily a well-liked one. His knack for manipulation and recognizing duplicity makes him the most dangerous obstacle to Penelope and Odysseus both. What’s more, Antinous is remarkably self-centred, and doesn’t see anyone as a threat. During the final confrontation between Odysseus and the suitors, Antinous doesn’t bat an eye while his friends of months and years die around him. Instead, he walks around, gets comfortable, and picks up some more fruit.
And yet, Antinous is well and truly smitten with Penelope, to the point that his scheming is often driven by his frustrated infatuations as much as his political ambitions. There’s a deep sadness in Arzani’s performance, elevating him as a compelling villain.
Visually, The Return is arresting, focusing on quiet, atmospheric shots of the island and locales of Ithaca. Ithaca is sparse but beautiful, and as Pasolini highlights the forests and sea around the island, it’s hard not to fall in love with the land Odysseus left behind.
Long, silent shots of the island allow dialogue and events time to breathe as Rachel Portman’s score washes over the film. Meanwhile, the interplay of images of the environment welcomes interpretation about what is lost when men go to war.The Return is a contemplative and nuanced film in the spirit of Homer’s original. Though the story is ancient, the message of the Odyssey’s tragic ending resonates even today.
The Return was seen during the 2024 Toronto International Film Festival.
