The Odyssey (TV movie)
| Movie | |
|---|---|
| German title | The Odyssey |
| Original title | L'Odissea |
| Country of production | Italy , Germany , Yugoslavia , France |
| original language | Italian |
| Publishing year | 1968 |
| length | 370 minutes |
| Age rating | FSK 12 |
| Rod | |
| Director | Franco Rossi |
| script |
Giampiero Bona , Vittorio Bonicelli , Fabio Carpi , Luciano Codignola , Mario Prosperi , Franco Rossi, Renzo Russo |
| production | Dino de Laurentiis |
| music | Carlo Rustichelli |
| camera | Aldo Giordani |
| cut | Giorgio Serrallonga |
| occupation | |
| |
The Odyssey is the title of a multi-part television film that was broadcast in 1968 in Italy under the original title L'Odissea by the RAI broadcaster and in 1969 in Germany by ZDF . In addition to Italy, Germany, France and Yugoslavia were represented in production. The Odyssey was shown in Italy in six and in Germany in four, slightly abbreviated parts. The film was also shown in cinemas in Italy and Spain.
The plot closely follows the eponymous epic odyssey of Homer . "Elaborate game scenes are mixed with the original text read out".
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At the beginning of the film, the camera shows modern footage of the ruins of Troy .
Soon there is a more than 3000-year flashback and the film begins with a narrator's voice, which begins with the first of the 24 chants of the Odyssey and continues the story over and over again, which is illustrated with lavishly staged actions.
The Odyssey closely follows the course of the original and remains even with its complex structure with numerous flashbacks and parallel plots. In keeping with the medium of “television”, however, a lot is gathered and shortened and individual priorities are set.
The voice of the narrator comes from Giuseppe Ungaretti in the Italian original , and from Leonard Steckel in the German version .
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The Odyssey was a milestone in the history of Italian television. The economic scale and scope of international co-production were unmatched to date. The television film became the prototype of major international co-productions beyond Italy. In Germany, the series was broadcast on ZDF from October 19, 1969 to November 9, 1969 and repeated after two years at the turn of the year from December 27, 1971 to December 30, 1971.
The Polyphemus scene was staged by Mario Bava .
Reception in Italy
In Italy, The Odyssey ran in eight episodes on the national program of RAI on Sunday, March 24, 1968. The broadcast started at 9:05 p.m. The last two episodes were combined on May 5, 1968.
In Italy, an average of 16.6 million viewers saw the individual episodes.
Despite the great success with the audience, the response from the television reviews was inconsistent. The multi-part is indeed "demanding" and downright "spectacular". On the other hand, the writer Giovanni Perego spoke of a "battle between Homer and television". "Complexity and literary power" of the original have been lost.
DVD release
An almost unabridged DVD release in Italian and German has been available since 2006. The passages that were shortened in the German television broadcast are inserted into the German version with the original Italian sound.