Jul 18, 2026 10:30pm IST
‘The Odyssey: The Making of an Epic’ Underlines the Deeply Human Triumph of Christopher Nolan’s Opus
To see Christopher Nolan’s “The Odyssey” is to feel dwarfed by its spectacle and yet resonate with its themes that, despite being a period piece, feel universal and eternal. To see “The Odyssey: The Making of an Epic,” then, a 22-minute behind-the-scenes documentary released on JioHotstar, is to grasp the film’s deeply human triumph.
The short BTS features several talking heads explaining what went into adapting Homer’s Ancient Greek epic poem in the modern world: There is Christopher Nolan himself, along with his partner and producer Emma Thomas, cast members including Matt Damon, Anne Hathaway, Tom Holland, Zendaya, Robert Pattinson and Himesh Patel, cinematographer Hoyte van Hoytema, composer Ludwig Göransson, production designer Ruth De Jong and visual effects supervisor Andrew Jackson, amongst others.
Everyone knows the basics of a Christopher Nolan set. It’s going to be steeped in realism: Actual locations that seem impossible to film in; practical set pieces and effects that demand Herculean effort from the crew; real people doing real action over AI tinkering and not a single green screen in sight. For the filmmaker, this looks like every film in his repertoire has led to this moment. From using IMAX cameras to film a couple of scenes in his earlier films—starting with “The Prestige”—to finally achieving a lifelong dream of shooting an entire film using those cameras. The result is a spectacle that is both staggering and intimate at the same time.
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The documentary short includes snippets of Tom Holland learning the action choreography like a dance, and of Matt Damon, Himesh Patel, and the actors who play the crew learning to row an actual Viking ship in real waters. A dolphin spotting gets captured on camera and then used in the film, something you couldn’t achieve if this was shot in a water tank. Production points out the attention to detail in the towering Trojan Horse, why it didn’t have wheels, and why it was carved out of wood that resembled the sides of a ship.
The behind-the-scenes footage takes us through the multiple locations where “The Odyssey” was filmed — from Nestor’s Cave in Greece, a virgin shoot location that doubled as Polyphemus’ lair, to Iceland, which stood in for Hades. The production team talks about finding a tiered city that would perfectly stand in for Troy and make the siege sequence look visually dynamic on screen, even as Odysseus watched their original sin unfold. But it would also mean that the crew would get in quite a lot of steps running through its narrow lanes.
Usually, when a magician reveals their tricks, the disillusionment can dampen the surrealness of the act itself. But when the documentary offers a glimpse behind the curtain of “The Odyssey”, it only validates every emotion you felt while watching the film. Like the awe upon seeing Benny Safdie’s aura-farming Agamemnon in armor, the claustrophobia watching Odysseus, Menelaus and their soldiers crammed inside the Trojan horse or the euphoria when Odysseus finally reveals himself in the film’s climax.
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The making also reiterates how a film of this stature happened not just despite odds, but because of sheer human will. Sure, there were vast budgets ($350 million), technology developed specifically (the clunky, noisy, 400-pound IMAX cameras fitted with a “blimp” and a mirror) and unusual transport options (helicopters lifting crew and cameras to the craziest locations). And yet, it becomes clear that it couldn’t have been accomplished without a determined visionary like Nolan at the helm and a cast and crew who had faith that they were a part of something so unprecedented that they pushed the limits of their own creativity and endurance.
One of the best examples is the experimental score by Ludwig Göransson, whom Nolan challenged not to use an orchestra. The Academy Award-winning composer then created it with replicated Bronze Age instruments, and the result was a score that felt like an active character in the film — melancholic, haunting and rousing when needed.
“The Odyssey: The Making of an Epic” is best served as a course after watching the film. But for anyone willing to take a peek before they buy tickets, it might just amp up expectations. There are definitely some sequences from the film — like the encounter between Odysseus and Circe (Samantha Morton)—that deserve a BTS decode. Let’s hope a director’s commentary feature comes out soon.
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