The journeys of Odysseus

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Movie
German title The journeys of Odysseus
Original title Ulisse
Country of production Italy
original language English
Publishing year 1954
length 109 (previously 104) minutes
Age rating FSK 12
Rod
Director Mario Camerini
script Franco Brusati
Mario Camerini
Ennio De Concini
Hugh Gray
Ben Hecht
Ivo Perilli
Irwin Shaw
production Dino De Laurentiis
Carlo Ponti
music Alessandro Cicognini
camera Harold Rosson
cut Leo Cattozzo
occupation

The journeys of Odysseus (original title: Ulisse ) is an Italian monumental film from 1954 , which, based on Homer's epic Odyssey , tells the life of Odysseus , King of Ithaca .

The film sticks relatively closely to the Homeric original, the Odyssey. In order to get by with a length of 100 minutes, however, the plot was streamlined and some was left out, rearranged and summarized.

action

After an introduction describing the fall of Troy , Cassandra's curse against Odysseus, his unfortunate journey home and his wife Penelope besieged by suitors , the central part of the plot is designed as a flashback. Odysseus was washed up on the beach of Kerkyra , the neighboring island of Ithakas, as a shipwrecked man, and at first could not remember anything. But he is hospitable by the ruling couple of the Phaiacs who inhabit Kerkyra, and gradually his memories return, which he then relates. He tells of his fight with the Cyclops Polyphemus , the songs of the sirens , his stay with the sorceress Circe - who was summarized in the film with Calypso and played by the actress Penelope - or about his visit to the realm of shadows. In the end, after 20 years of “Odyssey”, Odysseus returns home disguised as a beggar and initially only reveals himself to his son Telemach . Laughed by all suitors, he took part in the competition for the hand of Penelope, which he won - an archery competition designed in such a way that only Odysseus himself could actually win it. After his victory he reveals himself and kills all suitors in his house.

background

  • The film was shot in the DeLaurentiis studios in Rome and in Porto Ercole .
  • The Italian version of the film is longer and contains additional scenes that differ from one another.
  • Odysseus' voyages premiered in Italy on October 6, 1954 . In the Federal Republic of Germany it was released on February 8, 1955 and in Austria on February 25, 1955. On June 29, 1984 the film was shown in GDR cinemas and on July 28, 1985 it was first shown on DFF 1 on GDR television shown.
  • In March 2010 the uncut, 109-minute version was first released on DVD.

Reviews

  • "The most expensive color film at the time (10 million dollars in production costs) offers the Odysseus myth as an elaborate cinema fable that works with excellent special effects." (Rating: 2½ out of 4 possible stars = above average) - Adolf Heinzlmeier and Berndt Schulz in the dictionary "Films on TV" (1990)
  • “Homer's heroic poem, or: How the Italian film producers of the 1950s imagined the Trojan horse, the one-eyed giant Polyphemus, the sorceress Circe and the wanderings of Odysseus. As a colorful antique adventure with a Wild West touch, it is at least spectacular and exciting. ” - Lexicon of international films
  • “Homer would be amazed. Let's be amazed! ” - film-dienst

literature

  • Homer : Odyssey (Original title: Odyssea ). German by Johann Heinrich Voss . Complete transfer, 17th revised edition. With an afterword, a chronological table on the Mycenaean period and the history of the Odyssey text up to Hellenism, with notes and bibliographical references by Marion Giebel . Goldmann, Munich 2004, 328 pages, ISBN 3-442-07548-3 .

Web links

Individual evidence

  1. ↑ Release certificate for The Journeys of Odysseus . Voluntary self-regulation of the film industry , December 2009 (PDF; test number: 87 02V V).
  2. ↑ Comparison of the international version with the Italian .
  3. ↑ The Journeys of Odysseus in the Internet Movie Database (English)
  4. ↑ a b The journeys of Ulysses in the lexicon of international filmsTemplate: LdiF / Maintenance / Access used
  5. ^ Adolf Heinzlmeier, Berndt Schulz: Lexicon "Films on TV" (expanded new edition). Rasch and Röhring, Hamburg 1990, ISBN 3-89136-392-3 , p. 213.
  6. ↑ Ronald M. Hahn , Volker Jansen, Norbert Stresau : Lexicon of Fantasy Films. 650 films from 1900 to 1986 . Heyne, Munich 1986, ISBN 3-453-02273-4 , p. 137.