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Nolan screened three classic films for The Odyssey cast before shooting

moviesJul 14, 2026672,068

Before filming The Odyssey, Christopher Nolan held special screenings of three classic films for the cast as preparatory inspiration. Nolan told The Independent he screened Andrei Tarkovsky’s Andrei Rublev, Akira Kurosawa’s Ran and Martin Scorsese’s The Last Temptation of Christ to study textures and moods rather than specific details. He singled out Ran for its use of landscape and wind, saying the banners flapping in the wind informed part of the film’s visual approach. Nolan called The Last Temptation of Christ a fresh and accessible window into history and said the viewings are meant to suggest a generalised texture for the production. Nolan also credited the success of Oppenheimer with giving him the opportunity to make The Odyssey at the scale he wanted. The Odyssey stars Matt Damon as Odysseus, with Anne Hathaway as Penelope and Tom Holland as Telemachus, and is the first feature shot entirely on IMAX film cameras after Nolan worked with David Keighley to develop lighter, quieter equipment capable of handling dialogue scenes.

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