The Return: Film Review
After The English Patient and Wuthering Heights, Ralph Fiennes and Juliette Binoche reunite on-screen for a third time in Uberto Pasolini‘s The Return.
This drama is an adaptation of the latter part of the epic Greek poem, The Odyssey, minus all the gods and monsters. This grounded, realistic story begins when Odysseus (Fiennes) washes up on the shore of his home island, Ithaca, after leaving for war many years ago. He is widely presumed dead, but his wife, Queen Penelope (Binoche), clings on to the hope that he’s alive and refuses to find a new husband.
The kingdom is in tatters, and she is practically imprisoned in her own palace as dangerous and greedy suitors – such as Marwan Kenzari‘s slimy Antinous – wait for her to choose who to marry. They grow restless and start circling like vultures, making it the perfect timing for Odysseus’ return!
But he isn’t the hero he once was. He’s totally unrecognisable. His body is wiry and sinewy, and he’s been beaten down and scarred mentally and physically by war. He’s also not in a hurry to reveal his identity because he knows everyone will hate him for leading their men to their deaths and for taking so long to come back.
Fiennes is truly sensational in this role, communicating all of these mixed feelings in very few words and glances. He also shows off an astounding physical transformation in very little (and sometimes no) clothes and violently wields a variety of weapons. I particularly enjoyed his interactions with his son Telemachus (Charlie Plummer), who harbours a long-simmering resentment towards his absent dad. Binoche’s performance is much more understated in comparison, but it’s still impressive, nonetheless.
I didn’t think The Return would be my cup of tea, but I was gripped by it from start to finish. It’s very good! I now consider myself primed for Christopher Nolan‘s The Odyssey, which is expected to depict Homer’s full poem.
In cinemas from Friday 11th April
Rating: 4 out of 5.
