In The Return, a soldier arrives home after many years of warfare, appearing disheveled and very worn out. His friends do not know him, he is unable to integrate back into normal life, and even his wife appears to be a stranger to him. It sounds like a story we have heard a million times before, except that the main characters’ names are Odysseus and Penelope, the place is the island of Ithaca, and the war was fought in Troy. Indeed, this film, which premieres in front of the camera at the Toronto International Film Festival before hitting cinemas later this year, is a direct interpretation of one part of the ancient text Homer’s The Odyssey. It’s many of the filmmaker’s ethos that rings true for her Unfortunately Girl.
But do not expect to see here the gods and goddesses or mythological monsters such as those created by Ray Harryhausen. Rather, director co-screenwriter Uberto Pasolini (Still Life, Nowhere Special) exposes it to the bare minimum which brings on the distortion of the story to give it a varied sense to the audience making it either boring or refreshing in a slow-moving method.
Odysseus is the first character to appear in this narrative he is literally washed ashore and half-dead (Ralph Fiennes worked out exclusively in order to achieve a lean and trim flexible physique and this stunning transformation is on show). Eumaeus, a swineherd, has called him by a name he does not seem to remember. He then goes on to tell Odysseus that Queen Penelope, played by Juliette Binoche, is alive, and so is Telemachus, played by Charlie Plummer in Lean On Pete, who is her son. He is now committed to ensuring that many men who are ready to wed a widow do not come anywhere close to her. To warm up the suitors, she announces that she will marry them only after she completes weaving a burial shroud for her father. But she secretly removes the woven cloth all night and says nothing during the day.
“Has no man shared her bed?” Inquiring Odysseus, his voice shaking with the emotional tumult of a man who is home after twenty long years. Odysseus is made the butt of jokes in the village next, with people mocking his sore throat and voice quips of “Something to an aging soldier, a dirge for bravery” to name a few. However, once he loses patience and gets into a fistfight. Odysseus is seen displaying an exceptional aptitude for hand-to-hand combat by shooting his opponent who is younger, taller, and heavier than him.
Odysseus’ faithful dog is old and hurt, but he instantly recognizes his master one last time before he dies. When Odysseus meets Penelope for the first time after the war, she does not recognize him and starts firing a series of questions to know anything about her husband. This particular scene, which is nearly fully performed in darkness, is magnificently executed by Fiennes and Binoche, whose expressive features convey more than their mostly mute roles.
There is an exciting climax to the film as Odysseus starts coming out of hiding as a transformed character itself, having to deal with the likes of Penelope’s ruthless admirer Antinous (Marwan Kenzari, Aladdin) and even the faithful ex-maid Eurycleia (a deeply experienced Ángela Molina, Live Flesh) who recognizes him instantly due to his scars. Ultimately, things get out of control with the start of the archery contest whose winner would be the new husband of Penelope and the king, this is the competition that Odysseus goes to and it becomes a slaughter within seconds of the start.
The film is somewhat reminiscent of Pasolini’s Pier Paolo in its spirit as it opts for a pared-down interpretation of a well-known tale and the central performances of Fiennes and Binoche, both appropriately tragic as the emotionally stricken long-lost couple, are left to carry the picture. The narrative arc dealing with Plummer’s Telemachus is rather unconvincing, with the younger actor appearing to be unable to embody his character while looking out of place as too modern. Clearly, these writers are filmmaker Pasolini and co-writer John Collee (Master and Commander The Far Side of the World) together with Edward Bond (Blow-Up) too as Pasolini uses minimalist aesthetics and does not bother the audience with elaborate costumes and set design. It works, more or less, up to a point, but having almost two hours’ length The Return, rather paradoxically for an artsy film, cries for some entertainment after about two hours of screen time.
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