Originals and adaptations

Shin June-bong

The author is an editorial writer at the JoongAng Ilbo. 

Adaptations are almost as old as cinema itself. Even before movies had recorded voices or sound effects, filmmakers eagerly turned literary works into screenplays, making adaptation one of cinema’s earliest storytelling practices.

The existence of an original inevitably invites comparison to the film adaptation, and judging its likeness to the original becomes part of judging the movie. But preferences differ over whether an adaptation should remain faithful to its source or take creative liberties. Emily Wilson, a University of Pennsylvania professor and translator of Homer’s “The Odyssey,” recently stirred debate with her harsh assessment of Christopher Nolan’s “The Odyssey.” Her stance was that adaptations should stay true to the original.

The New Yorker addressed the issue on Aug. 5 in an article titled “What Makes an Adaptation Good?” The piece offered five categories based on fidelity: close to the original, distant from it, retaining the body while replacing the engine, replacing the body while preserving the engine and becoming virtually unrecognizable.

The magazine placed Bolan’s “The Odyssey” in the third category, explaining that the film retains events from Homer’s epic but completely rewrites the dialogue, adds scenes and characters and changes the poem’s psychology and morality. Its assessment of the film was harsher. Stripped of its “Odysseity,” Nolan’s newest work becomes a fantasy-infused action movie about a war-weary protagonist preparing for a final test: returning home and saving his wife and son.

Such disapproval among English-language experts contrasts with the film’s global box office success, audience support and generally favorable responses from Korean experts.

Film critic Oh Dong-jin praised it as a movie that would rank among the top 10 made in the 21st century. Ahn Jae-won, a professor at Seoul National University’s College of Humanities, disagreed with Wilson’s criticism.

He argues that “The Odyssey” marked a turning point as Greek society moved from a “shame-focused culture,” one based on reputation and prestige without an inner moral dimension, toward a “guilt-focused culture,” in which people reflect on their wrongdoing. He believes that the film effectively captures that transition.

One thing seems certain: This is a movie best seen in a theater. Its images and sound are overwhelming, particularly in IMAX. Demand is apparently so strong that tickets for premium screenings are being resold above face value. Whatever critics may say about the adaptation, the spectacle appears to have persuaded audiences that Nolan’s epic belongs on the biggest screen available to them today.