R | 1h 56m | Drama, Action | Dec. 6, 2024
The “Lord Of The Rings” film trilogy was the truest representation of the books that begat them, in my opinion, of any movies based on books. I know. I read the LOTR trilogy 52 times—true story. Yes, yes, it’s amazing I managed to get anything else done in my life.
“The Return,” Italian director Uberto Pasolini’s ode to the legendary return of King Odysseus to the isle of Ithaca, is a close runner-up to “Lord Of The Rings” in terms of its spot-on casting, look, and atmosphere.
‘The Return’
A bit of history: The brave Ulysses, also known as Odysseus, left Ithaca for the ancient Turkish city of Troy, to reclaim King Menelaus of Sparta’s stolen wife, the beauteous Helen, 1,200 years before the birth of Christ.
Odysseus fought alongside the great Achilles, and the diabolically clever Trojan horse ruse was his brainchild. Odysseus (Ralph Fiennes) was a long time gone. For reasons that are not explained here, beyond “I was lost,” he failed to return home.
The Return to the Castle
For 20 years, Odysseus’s “widow” Penelope (Juliette Binoche) has awaited the return of her warrior-king, endlessly weaving by day the death shroud for Odysseus’s ailing father, the old king, and unraveling it by night. Why? To keep the opportunistic suitor-parasites at bay, who circle like vultures. Only one of them cares about winning her heart—the rest are exclusively after her wealth.
Their son, Telemachus (Charlie Plummer), has grown to resent his father’s absence, due to being caught in the middle of this bitter power struggle. He must ward off the suitors while weathering their constant scorn and disrespect. They call him a mama’s boy, and he is, but not by choice. Being fed up, he’s joined the chorus clamoring for her to remarry and share her wealth. But she’s not having any of it.
A naked man eventually washes up on the rocky shore, exhausted, bloody, bruised, and near death. He’s found by slaves, nursed back to health, and before long, finds his way to his former stronghold on the sea cliff. No one can recognize this man, except the former king’s ancient hunting dog Argos, who licks this stranger’s hand, wags his tail, and gives up the ghost on the spot. It’s beyond the scope of this movie to reveal the soul journey that would render a man this unrecognizable.
Odysseus begins a stealth battle to protect Penelope, all while avoiding making contact with her. The movie portrays Odysseus as a primeval version of a modern Navy SEAL operator (which is accurate) who’s returned from being immersed for multiple tours of duty in the horrors of war. Having been forced to do unspeakable things to the point of no longer being able to ascertain the state of his morality, he’s carrying a heavy dose of PTSD.
Ralph Fiennes
Ralph Fiennes, who recently (and terrifically) starred in the very different role of a Catholic priest in “Conclave,” is a joy to watch. It’s a subtle but powerful performance in a modern rendition of Homer’s epic poem that strips away the gods and monsters from the source material, and focuses purely on the human story.Speaking of unrecognizable, the heretofore somewhat physically delicate Fiennes, not known by any stretch of the imagination as an action-hero, has admirably prepped in the gym and forged himself an action-hero body. Or rather, it’s a Greek golden-age athlete body—no small task for a man his age. When he exits his tent at one point and stands naked, it’s a startlingly accurate replica of the Greek statue exhibition room at the New York Metropolitan Museum of Art.
It must be said that some of the fight choreography does not flow naturally from him; martial arts are clearly not in Fiennes’s muscle memory. But it matters little. He may have opened up new avenues of late-career employment with this performance.
Cast
Fiennes and Binoche have previously worked together in “Wuthering Heights” (1992) and it shows. They also worked together on “The English Patient” (1996), though she’s not the lead there.
Through facial expressions and body language, an understated Juilette Binoche communicates grief, inner turmoil, hopelessness, and forbearance—also the subconscious, over-mothering desire to keep her son from becoming a man by attempting to shield him from violence.
The supporting characters are not particularly well-developed, but serve the narrative well. Director Pasolini captures the outer, rugged harshness of the seaside landscape and successfully contrasts its visual beauty with the human inner ugliness on display.
Deliberately paced and solemn, with an omnipresent cello vacillating a minor-third interval, reminiscent of a Philip Glass score (used so often in dark, contemplative movies, which I’ve personally come to find somewhat tedious), “The Return” is nevertheless gripping and deeply rewarding.
