Visionary director and Oscar-winning director, Christopher Nolan, has broken his silence regarding the controversial casting of rapper Travis Scott in his upcoming £250 million production ofThe Odyssey.
Addressing a wave of online backlash, the filmmaker argued that the 'Sicko Mode' artist is uniquely qualified to portray an ancient Greek bard because modern rap serves as the direct descendant of Homeric oral tradition.
The announcement that Scott would join an elite ensemble featuring Matt Damon and Anne Hathaway sparked immediate debate amongst cinephiles and classical scholars alike. Many critics dismissed the move as 'stunt casting' designed to lure younger audiences to a three-hour Greek epic. However, speaking toTIME, Nolan dismissed these concerns as a misunderstanding of the source material's origins.
'I cast him because I wanted to nod towards the idea that this story has been handed down as oral poetry, which is analogous to rap,' Nolan stated.
The director explained that in the Bronze Age, stories were not read from pages but performed through rhythm and vocal cadence to keep them alive in the collective memory. By placing a contemporary titan of rhythm into the role of the storyteller, Nolan intends to strip away the 'stuffy' museum-quality often associated with period pieces, making Scott perfect for the film.
Christopher Nolan defends casting rapper Travis Scott to star in ‘The Odyssey.’“I cast him because I wanted to nod towards the idea that this story has been handed down as oral poetry, which is analogous to rap.”The film, based on Greek mythology, also stars trans actress…pic.twitter.com/tDUDyVnHZm
According to TIME, Nolan's vision for the film is rooted in the transition of Greece from a literacy-rich era into a dark age of oral history. Scott's character appears early in the film, reportedly delivering a haunting narration regarding the fall of Troy to Telemachus, played by Tom Holland.
This is not the first time the two have collaborated. Scott previously provided 'The Plan' for Nolan's 2020 thrillerTenet. At the time, the director praised the rapper's 'profound' insights into narrative mechanisms.
ForThe Odyssey, Nolan is taking this partnership further, using Scott's gravelly, rhythmic delivery to bridge the three-thousand-year gap between the Mediterranean coastline and modern performance art.
On top of it,The Odysseyis the first feature-length film to be shot entirely on IMAX cameras. To achieve this, Nolan worked with cinematographer Hoyte van Hoytema to develop a lighter, quieter version of the massive cameras, allowing them to capture intimate character moments alongside sweeping naval battles.
Source: International Business Times UK
