Will there ever be a faithful version of Homer's epic?

growl59

I've recently viewed this film on video, and though I found it to be a much better than the awful 1998 TV movie, it still lacks an accurate portrayal of the main characters. Ulysses(Odysseus)is cunning, clever, ever testing those around him including his wife and son. He never reveals his true identity until he is certain he can trust the various characters he meets throughout his journey. For instance, in the English translation by Kennedy, Ulysses washes up on shore and feigns memory loss until he knows his hosts can be trusted. This is a display of his clever nature. However, in this version, Kirk Douglas portrays him as actually having lost his memory. There is very little of his clever nature portrayed anywhere in the film.

Also missing from this version is a portrayal of the goddess Athena who is so important to Homer's epic. Will there ever be a faithful version of this classic story?

score /10

growl59 5 January 2000

Reprint: https://www.imdb.com/review/rw0053871/