The Odyssey director Christoper Nolan has defended his use of modern English in his upcoming adaptation of Homer’s Ancient Greek epic.
When the first full-length trailer for one of the most anticipated films of the year landed in December, people couldn’t help but be surprised and a little disappointed by how its dialogue came across.
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Despite the source dating back to around the 7th or 8th century BC and being set in Ancient Greece, most of the cast have American accents and use modern language, in contrast to the more traditional way people are depicted as speaking in historical dramas.
However, Nolan has told The Los Angeles Times that he purposefully wanted to modernise his take on The Odyssey, and use language “that has emotional not intellectual meaning to people” in his film.
When writing the script, he deliberately chose modern dialogue and colloquialisms, such as when Tom Holland’s Telemachus refers to Matt Damon’s character, Odysseus, as “Dad” rather than “Father” in one scene.
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