Dog steals the show in blockbuster - The Odyssey
The Trojan horse might tower over faithful four legged friend, Argos in The Odyssey - but Argos packs a way bigger emotional punch.
The blockbuster adaptation of Homer’s epic poem the Odyssey was the biggest gamble of Nolan’s career has paid off thanks to a hound.
A key element in the success was Argos, the faithful hound of Odysseus. As director Christopher Nolan says , “This is the greatest dog
story ever told.” The film budget topped €250m so needed huge audience to just to break even. Odyssey box office quickly passed break
even, helped by legions of dog lovers in cinema queues. Bow wow.
The canine connection is at the heart of the zeitgeist of this ancient epic for our time.
Nolan has described The Odyssey as ‘the ultimate dog story”. The canine connection between our hero and Argos stood out for Nolan from the get go. When Odysseus finally returns to Ithaca disguised as a beggar, he reunites with his old hunting dog Argos, who has patiently been waiting for him to return home. Argos dies peacefully shortly afterwards, making for one of the epic's strongest moments for Nolan - deeply moving. This death scene packs emotional punch and illustrates the unbreakable bond between man and dog.
The choice of the dog breed to play this key role fell to a pooch with a wonderful lineage, the Portuguese Potengo. And, like the story itself, this stunning hunting hound has a history stretching back thousands of years. In Homer's epic poem, Argos waits 20 years for his master to return from the Trojan War. After two decades Odysseus returns in disguise as a beggar, Argos is one of the few to recognise him before passing away. This deeply quietly poignant is in stark contrast to the blood and fury and deafening chaos of battle.
Director Christopher Nolan told Hollywood Reporter that the dog content in the film was very much inspired by becoming a dog owner himself. “It’s funny when you look at the films you’ve made and how they parallel your life. You get married, and then you make a film in which that relationship is important. You have kids, and then you find yourself making films about trying to get home for your kids. I had never had a dog, and a few years ago, we got our first dog as the kids were leaving for college. They were kind of bitter about it. They’d always wanted a dog, and we’d never been able to have one because we were traveling too much. And coming to TheOdyssey, it’s the ultimate dog movie. So I was definitely better prepared to take on the ultimate dog movie having become a dog owner.” `said the director, adding “"Finally got a dog, and yeah, it changes your life,"
Christopher Nolan only recently became a dog owner. Once his children left home for college, he and his wife, Emma Thomas, finally adopted a chocolate Labrador named Charlie. Nolan told American network chat show host Stephen Colbert that experiencing the bond of dog parenthood made him appreciate Odysseus' loyal dog, Argos. He stated, "I decided to do The Odyssey because it's the ultimate dog story".
Better still Nolan even celebrated his canine bond by using his new pooch’s name as the code name for this mega bucks Hollywood Project. In development this multi million pound blockbuster did the rounds of casting agents and creatives as Charlie’s tale. Now that is some tribute - a canine code name. Nolan has tackled big budget blockbuster action films like Batman and huge scale war films like Dunkirk but The Odyssey - while on a huge epic scale - strikes a singularly personal note for this a director who had helmed some of the biggest budget Hollywood pictures. The touching canine connection which green lit The Odyssey speaks to the magical unbreakable bond between man and dog. The sincerity of the link shines through the blood and thunder of the film and gives it heart. A hound’s heart. The Trojan Horse may be much bigger than Argos but in terms of dramatic clout Argos towers over the wooden horse.