Christopher Nolan Had THE ODYSSEY Cast Learn to Sail for Real and "It Was Tough on Everybody"
When Christopher Nolan decides to make a movie, he doesn't seem interested in shortcuts. If his next film is going to tell the story of a legendary Greek warrior battling his way across the sea after the Trojan War, then the cast is actually going to spend time out on the water learning how to handle an ancient ship.
That's exactly what happened while making The Odyssey, and it sounds like the production pushed everyone involved to their limits.
Considering the story follows Odysseus' long and dangerous voyage home, sailing is a huge part of the film. Nolan admitted that while writing the screenplay, he already knew those sequences would be some of the biggest challenges of the production.
"When I was writing the script, every time I’d write something on a boat, I thought, 'Ugh, do we have to be on boats?' Because I know what it takes to film on the open water," Nolan told The Independent.
"They're like, 'Well, it's The Odyssey, so yes.' Having an ancient vessel, and a boat built according to those ancient specifications – where everything's wooden – and being out on the open water with the cast and crew, it was a tall order."
Instead of relying on visual effects or making everything happen on controlled sets, Nolan went all in. He reunited with marine coordinator Neil Andrews, who previously worked with him on Dunkirk, to help prepare the production for filming at sea.
The actors didn't just climb aboard and pretend to be experienced sailors either. They actually trained alongside the ship's crew until they could operate the vessel themselves.
"These guys – Odysseus' crew – learned how to row the thing," Nolan added. "They learned how to raise the yard, raise the sails. And so by the time we got there with our camera, you know, Hoyte [van Hoytema, cinematographer] and I are on our own deck.
“We were shooting it kind of like a documentary. It was really thrilling to do. But boy, it was tough. It was tough on everybody."
That approach sounds perfectly in line with Nolan's filmmaking style. Rather than creating the feeling of being at sea, he wanted the audience to experience the real thing alongside the cast. If everyone on screen actually knows how to handle the ship, those moments should carry an authenticity that's hard to fake.
Even before anyone has seen the finished movie, The Odyssey has already attracted its share of online criticism and debate. Nolan, however, isn't losing sleep over any of it.
"Comes with the territory," the director has said. "But look," he added, "these conversations that happen before people see the film – they're always irrelevant, because no one having them knows what the film actually is yet."
Speculation always ramps up around a Christopher Nolan movie, especially one adapting one of the most famous epic poems ever written. Until audiences actually sit down and watch it, nobody really knows what Nolan has crafted.
The Odyssey is an adaptation of Homer's legendary epic poem and follows the Greek hero Odysseus as he fights to make his way home after the Trojan War.
Based on everything Nolan has shared so far, it sounds like the production embraced the same adventurous spirit as the story itself, with the cast learning genuine sailing skills and spending real time on the open ocean instead of taking the easy route.
We'll find out how all of that translates to the big screen when The Odyssey sails into theaters on July 17.