An inherent and sweeping tragedy, THE RETURN brilliantly strips the journey of Odysseus and Penelope down to its bare bones.
Director Uberto Pasolini’s slow-burning adaptation of Homer’s Odyssey reunites THE ENGLISH PATIENT stars Ralph Fiennes and Juliette Binoche for a film grounded in a classical style that captures the steeliness of the Greek epic, where gazes are locked tight and every breath and word is measured. THE RETURN picks up as Odysseus (Fiennes) washes onto the shores of Ithaca. It has been more than 20 years since he left his kingdom to fight in the Trojan War and, in all that time, his wife and queen Penelope (Binoche) has waited as a group of increasingly unruly suitors pressure her to take one of them as the new king. Barely recognizable to himself or to the people who once revered him as a mighty warrior, Odysseus slowly makes his way toward the castle, seeing what has become a desolate island in his absence. With tension growing, Penelope puts forth a test for her chosen king to prove himself true among a viper’s nest of men lusting for power.
*OPEN CAPTIONS MONDAYThe Return showing at: December 21, 7:30 pm
The Return
Location: Salem Cinema1127 Broadway St NE, Salem, Oregon, 973013