43/50
After 20 years, Odysseus finally returns to Ithaca, where he finds his wife imprisoned by suitors vying for the kingship and his son in mortal danger. Odysseus must find his strength to win back his family and everything he has lost. For the third time, Ralph Fiennes and Juliette Binoche have starred in a film together. They previously worked together in Wuthering Heights (1992) and The English Patient (1996). Penelope: How can men find their way to war but not their way home? Odysseus: For some, war becomes home. Focuses on immersion. Immersing the viewer in the varied pain and suffering of Penelope and Odysseus during Odysseus’ return home to Ithaca, this memoir quite systematically explores the challenges many soldiers face upon returning from active duty, including post-traumatic stress disorder and other mental health issues, as well as reintegrating into their former lives of family and community, and the memories of the experiences and pain experienced and the memories of the pain and the resulting irreversible internal changes. At the heart of The Return is an excellent cast that allows the viewer to experience this rollercoaster ride in which the two main characters reach remarkable heights, the latter thanks to the unique and special resilience of Penelope and Odysseus during this difficult time in their lives… and without each other’s support. In fact, the two are kept quite separate throughout most of the build-up, which only adds to the catharsis in the most intense, thriller-like later part of the film, which is shot at a slower pace. Fiennes brings his own unique style of portraying suffering to this work, a great extension of his wonderful skills from his side-by-side portrayals of pain and suffering in The Spider and The Affair’s End. Binoche is the perfect choice for Penelope as the audience could easily be tricked into feeling and hoping that the two will get back together in the same way they were close throughout The English Patient and Pasolini uses this to create extra tension in this work for those who have memories of The English Patient alive. It is a great and very relevant work that must be experienced!