All language subtitles for The Odyssey (The Making of an Epic 2026)

- Promise me
you will come back.

What if I can't?

This is definitely
the biggest movie

that I've ever done,
in terms of its ambition.

The scale of all the sets,

and the amount of people
involved, it's just so large.

- A great filmmaker
like Christopher Nolan

can do scope and action,
but also heart

and humanity and rawness.

- This is him at his best,
going for it, you know?

Pedal to the metal,
like, we are gonna make

the biggest and most impressive
movie that's ever been made.

Let's go home.

- "The Odyssey"
is a massive story.

And that's part
of the appeal of it,

is it's not really
just one story.

It manages to encompass
a lot of different genres.

So for me, the idea of taking
on this biggest of stories

with a top-level cast,
using all the techniques

and resources of a massive
Hollywood production.

Whether you're talking
about visual effects

or practical stunts,
real locations, building sets,

we needed to use all
of it for "The Odyssey,"

every trick in the book.

That's never been done before,

and that's a really exciting
challenge to take on.

You're a man who needs
to control his fate.

But you cannot control this.

And three, two, one, action!

- This is such
an ambitious film.

It's sort of like seven
different ambitious movies

all rolled up into one.

We needed the right people
to take on this challenge.

- Chris gets
the finest craftsmen

in the world at what they do,
and then he asks everybody

to push the envelope.

That's the thing that's
exciting about these pictures,

is you can feel everybody
straining--straining--

to do better than they've done
before, to just fulfill

what's being asked of them.

- Chris looked at me
and he goes,

this is gonna be a hard movie.

And I said, yeah, I know.

And he goes, no, this is
gonna be a really hard movie.

And I was like, got it.

- Part of what I've been doing
in my films over the years,

whether you look at "The Dark
Knight" or "Interstellar"

or "Inception," they're taking
sometimes fanciful ideas

but trying to ground them
in something

really recognizable
for the audience.

And I wanted to apply that to
the world of Greek mythology.

That's a huge task
for every department head

to find that reality,
to create an entire world

that you can put into action
in front of the camera

and then bring the audience
into that space.

- Everyone's on that
same page of trying

to find the best possible,

essentially in-camera
solutions.

My role is constantly
wracking my brains

for how are we gonna do this,

which may involve
special effects

or the art department
or whoever.

I reminded myself
and learned firsthand

every single day
Chris's motto of

"If it's easy,
everybody would be doing it."

- No one could
stand between me and home.

Not even the gods.

- It feels like we made
six or seven movies,

and in a sense, we did.

Every single chapter
of this adventure

was at a different location

that posed
a different challenge.

- You just know
that the locations,

when you're telling a story
like this, are gonna be

like characters unto
themselves,

so they have to be
extra special.

And so we found ourselves in
these really amazing places.

- There are parts of the world
that I don't think I would

even have ever seen
or known about

had it not been
for this experience.

There's a certain
level of information

that you learn when
something is real.

So when you go to these
places, you just feel it,

and it just adds another layer

to what it is that
you're trying to express.

Action.

One of the things I like
about shooting on location

is we're moving countries
every couple of weeks.

So it gives you this
incredible momentum.

The issue on this film
is that we're shooting

in extraordinary places
that were

hard to get to,
hard to shoot in.

- You know, normally if you're
doing a Hollywood movie,

the base camp is 10 seconds
away from the set.

When you're shooting a
Chris Nolan movie, it's like,

no, that's a 45-minute hike in
sandals up there, full costume.

- We're at a location called
Santa Catarina Castle.

It's on the top of a hill.

All the equipment drops
are happening here.

You guys gotta film
some of that.

Load-in's gonna be nuts.

♪ ♪

Getting the camera equipment
and the grip equipment,

all of it just
up here on this hill.

- We have, basically,
the footpath,

a funicular cableway
for equipment,

and a few helicopters to get

equipment and crew up
as needed.

- We all feel
so fortunate and lucky.

As hard as this is to work
like this up here in this...

It's worth it.

Being on a mountaintop
and having the capability

to shoot 360 degrees

and not having to worry about
blue screens

or visual effects lights

and all this sort of stuff
just gives so much freedom

to us as the actors
to just let it happen,

where you just have to be
a human being and react

to the beautiful sunset
that's happening

on top of the mountain.

- I mean, every location
we went to, I would get there,

and I'd just start laughing.

You're like, who thought
you should shoot a movie here?

You know, we're shooting
in Nestor's Cave in Greece.

They say it's the cave
where Zeus was born,

and it's this incredible
place, but nobody's ever tried

to shoot a film up there.

And so to go up there
with the crew

and to see the rigging that
they did to basically turn it

into a natural soundstage,
yeah,

I don't know any other
director who would try it.

- There was no location that
was straightforward and easy.

But all of those locations made
sense for the story, really.

It wouldn't be the film
that it is without going there

and doing it for real.

Tell me what you remember.

We won the war.

And then what?

Chris is not happy with
what's already been done.

He wants to do things that
haven't been done before

and do them on a scale that
hasn't been done before.

And anything he can do
to enhance the experience

of movie going and watching
and entertainment,

it's like, that's his goal.

- My first day in Morocco,
they were shooting the beach

where they pull
the horse out of the water.

I asked, I was like,
can I visit set?

So I walk over this sand dune.

And I reckon I walked
20 minutes through extras

and boats and fires
and buildings

and all this sort of stuff
before I saw

the first crew member.

I was like, where is the crew?

Like, where is everyone?

That was the moment
it really set in

that I was lucky enough
to be a part of something

that is different and special.

Because I've never seen
anything on that scale before.

- When you look
at large-scale filmmaking,

each section of the film has to
be as impressive as possible.

It has to take
the audience somewhere

they haven't been before.

Troy, for example,
and the fall of Troy,

we needed that to be on
an absolutely colossal scale.

I knew from the get-go
there was no set extensions,

there was no CGI.

We wanted to build
as much as possible.

Finding this terraced town,
Ait Benhaddou,

the different layers and
terraces helped us so much,

and then designing everything
into that.

This is pretty darn big.

It just feels like
a real massive city.

Let's just say we got
our steps every day.

And we wanted the horse to
rival the scale of the temple.

- Did you ever hear
the story of the horse?

♪ ♪

- It's 35 feet tall,
8,000 or 9000 pounds.

We shipped it in, like,
nine or ten crates.

The audience is very
familiar with this trick.

Everyone knows what
the Trojan horse is.

It can't be
a big roller-skate--

it can't be on wheels,
you know?

So I had this idea that
what if it's left there

as if it's meant
to be taken by the waves

as an offering to Poseidon.

Chris and I specifically
wanted a more

sophisticated-looking horse.

They're master craftsmen,
and they were sea people.

And so we took the inspiration
of the ship siding

and applied that
to the horse to make it

sort of a Trojan horse you've
never, ever seen before.

- The goal was to make it
manageable by human power,

because in the script,
there's 100 guys pulling it.

And so we really
worked hard to try

to make it as strong
and lightweight

and durable as possible.

- When they say it takes
a village, it certainly does.

Special effects built
the structural spine.

We made all the parts.

Originally, we had the entire
horse cut out of foam.

And from there, we made molds.

And then from there,
we made the fiberglass panels

and put all
the infrastructure in it.

This was incredible.

And they actually moved it
from the shore to the town

and erecting it up
the Temple of Athena.

It's really like everything
in this whole movie,

you know,
there's such a journey.

You know, everyone works
together to get it done.

- When you see it all
together with the wardrobe

and the people,
it's absolutely epic.

I mean, it's just stunning
to see it come together.

All of those extras.

I remember going in the
extras tent in Ouarzazate

and going, holy mother.

It was quite extraordinary.

I don't know how
we've accomplished it.

What was always very important
in the design was texture.

The textures are really
absolutely essential

for each and every character.

Nothing was flat.

Everything felt
three dimensional,

and you could actually feel it.

- There's so much detail
and thought

in every costume, set piece.

The sets are so massive,
and everybody's working

at such a high level
that you really feel immersed.

Like, I really stepped
into this world.

Ithaca's king is coming back.

No, he's not.

- Odysseus's Ithaca,
with the palace,

we used these existing ruins
and built onto them.

It had to convince the audience
why he needs to get home.

- When I first
got to Favignana,

I didn't even realize that
the set part was a set.

I literally--like, I remember
just leaning against the wall,

and it was squidgy.

And it's completely seamless
with the real ruins.

It was absolutely incredible.

- Ruth comes at everything
from a place of reality,

of going to a location
and building there

and changing it into what
you need to be,

basing it on something there.

This is all us.
We put all this.

But then you can
turn around here,

and you get all of this,
which is epic.

We're gonna tie
this into our palace

on stage in Los Angeles.

Chris knew he wanted this
to be a very large set.

It's really our only build
of the entire movie.

Everything else is built
on location in an environment.

Ruth and her crew built this
absolutely incredible set

that was really huge
and really detailed.

And you walked in there,
and it didn't feel like a set.

It felt like its own world.

♪ ♪

Nice, guys.

So just, like, a quick parry,
and keep going.

So parry, keep going,
forward, fall to the ground.

- When you're taking on
something as epic scale

and grand as this,
about the attack

of the gates at Troy
and the Trojan Horse

and bow and arrows and swords
and now you think,

how do we take that
to the next level?

Walk through this bit
again, will you please,

when you grab these two axes.

- I said to George Cottle, we
need the fighting in the film,

we need the action in the film
to be remarkable and credible,

and we need
the actors to do it.

Matt and all of the cast

were in incredible
physical condition,

and they all worked
so, so hard to deliver that.

Movie fighting is really more
like dancing than anything,

because it really
requires both people

to be in the right place.

The guys that George
put around me were really

super experienced so that
I was moving from one expert

dance partner to the next one.

- The actors have to be
as good as the stunt guys,

but then also bring the acting
elements into those equations.

So we try to make
the choreography

so ingrained in them that

they can truly concentrate
on their character.

- You know, lots of directors
would look at the action

and go, that looks awesome.
Great. Shoot it.

But Chris is looking for,
why is it awesome

and what makes
these characters tick?

Finding those little story
pieces within the great action

is what makes Chris
so special.

Okay, we're gonna go.

Action!

♪ ♪

Keep us straight!

rowers:
Pull!

And pull!

- When I was adapting
the screenplay,

I was sort of privately
kind of hoping I'd be able

to minimize the amount
of boat time.

But it's "The Odyssey."

Of course we're gonna be
on this boat for months,

as we were.

Last call.

If you do not need to be on
this boat, please get off now.

Boat's pushing off.

- One of the main
challenges here was

that we were using
period wooden ships.

We did everything we could
to hide engines in them,

but those engines were
just kind of, like,

to keep them
in a certain direction.

These were ultimately
gonna have to be sailed

by half stunt, half cast.

There's a reason we don't
row great big open boats

around on the ocean
anymore, okay?

But to get that feel,
you do the real thing.

We rowed this boat.

When I say, "we," I mean
those poor guys out there.

- There was a rowing camp,
because all Odysseus's guys

had to learn how to row
this giant 100-ton ship.

- As that ship's moving,
if you drop that oar,

it can jam you in the chest,

and it actually has
the ability to pick you up

and eject you from the boat.

There needs to be
a real conscious effort

to make sure you're safe.

At first, it wasn't great,

but then within a couple
of days, they had it dialed in,

and they had oars in,
oars out, ready and rowing.

Row!

And row!

- They learned how to put
the sail up on the boat.

They learned how to row.

You know, we're out there
doing these things for real,

and that is tremendously
taxing of people.

It was incredibly,
incredibly difficult.

- Being out there
on the boat together,

and nobody could go off
or go sit down somewhere

or go to a trailer
or go--it was no--

we were out in the middle
of the ocean together.

And it was like,
what's the next shot?

We're doing a close up.

Matt is looking over where
the ship is sailing to,

and a dolphin jumps
right through frame.

I mean, come on.

I'll tell you where that
would not happen, on the tank.

And luckily, we had this
great big IMAX camera,

and we recorded it.

And for me,
it's been my long held dream,

I mean, really, since I was
about 16 years old

to do an entire film on IMAX.

The thing that was stopping
us was always the sound.

IMAX has an incredible
team of engineers

who found a way to enclose
the camera in this box

so that we could shoot
the most intimate scenes.

We could have the camera
six inches away

and still get dialogue.

And so for
the first time ever,

we've been able
to do the entire film

on the incredible
IMAX film format.

It's a long held dream
finally coming to fruition.

We, as filmmakers, we're not
supposed to be comfortable.

We're supposed to present
the audience

with the best experience
possible.

So all our effort
was all in service

of trying to put our audience,
you know, in our shoes,

and experience
something extraordinary.

I think the IMAX
is gonna really allow

the audience to feel
like they are a part

of this journey with us.

You're really gonna be
immersed in this world.

- I think Chris has a way
of pulling you in

when you're watching
his films.

So naturally,
the same thing starts

to happen with the music.

One of the first things
that people would expect

when you go to see
a movie of this scale

in a movie theater
is to hear the sound

of a big, cinematic orchestra.

And you've seen that before.

You've heard that before.

For this one, Chris
wanted it to be different.

- We wanted the film to feel
like a recognizable world

to people, even though it was
gonna be Ancient Greece.

We don't want it
to look or feel

like previous movies
that take on this

kind of classical world.

What can we do that's
more timeless than that?

- I knew that in order
to create this completely

original world, I also had to
get out of my comfort zone

and find sounds that
I haven't worked with before.

Ludwig went very deep
on researching the instruments

that they might have had
at that time.

- Chris had
mentioned early that

he was interested in aulos.

He was interested in lyre.

The aulos is an
ancient Greek instrument.

It was the most
popular rock star instrument

for 1,000 years.

This is a replica
of an aulos.

The original dates from
between the sixth century

and the fifth century B.C.

We don't have
any surviving reeds.

So I worked
with two other people,

and we spent a while trying
to work out and figure out

how this bit worked at the top.

We had to read lots
of ancient source material

and try and work out
how they did it.

This is a reconstruction
of an ancient Greek lyre.

To be able to play it
in a philological way,

we have to do research
between iconography,

philological sources,
and personal experience

as a musician.

Nice.

Wow. You nailed it.

- Another thing that
Chris mentioned,

too, early on
in our conversations

was to use bronze.

You know,
this is the Bronze Age.

So gongs, you know,
for example, made of bronze.

You know, you can
make these instruments

sound a way that
you never heard them before.

We started to experiment
with a lot of other stuff,

hitting walls,
hitting railings,

hitting any kind of things
you could find outside,

like scrap metal
or air conditioning units.

Using vocals kind of became

how we could also add on
to some of the more

emotional pacing of the score.

There's real intimacy
and humanity in the soundtrack.

And I love that,
because it sort of subverts

all your expectations.

My dad is coming home.

Bringing vengeance.

Bringing it all.

- I'm a big fan
of film history,

particularly the silent era.

In-camera spectacle
was everything.

A cast of thousands,
extraordinary sets,

extraordinary locations.

Over time, with visual effects
technology, a lot of that

has got lost
in Hollywood production.

We're able to do both.

We can go back to
an older era of filmmaking,

but also add on to that
an entire level

of fantasy and imagination
through the power

of visual effects.

We're trying to do it all.

That's what "The Odyssey" is
and needs to be on screen.

Action!

- Chris really shoots
on this massive scale,

on this massive format.

But he basically shoots
independent films.

And there's a lot
of urgency to that.

He goes the extra distance to
make it feel authentic for us

on set,
which then makes it feel

more authentic for
the audience in the theater.

- People know
a lot of the story,

but they've never
seen it in this way.

And it really deserves
a huge canvas.

As a fan, I'm so excited
to see this film.

Let's go!

- Like, I cannot wait
to sit in that IMAX theater

and completely be lost in
this world that he's created.

- In your lifetime,
if there is one movie

that you go to the cinema,
no matter what,

this is the movie to do it,
because this is pure cinema.

♪ ♪