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Nolan screened three classic films for The Odyssey cast before shooting

moviesJul 14, 2026621,890

Before filming The Odyssey, director Christopher Nolan held special screenings of three classic films for cast and crew: Andrei Tarkovsky’s Andrei Rublev (1966), Akira Kurosawa’s Ran (1985) and Martin Scorsese’s The Last Temptation of Christ (1988). Nolan said he used those films for “textures that might inspire us,” noting Ran’s use of landscape and wind and specifically citing banners flapping in the wind as an influence on The Odyssey’s visuals. Nolan described The Last Temptation of Christ as “a fresh and accessible window into history” rather than a source for specific details. He also credited the commercial success of Oppenheimer with giving him the opportunity to mount The Odyssey at the required scale. The Odyssey, starring Matt Damon as Odysseus, Anne Hathaway as Penelope and Tom Holland as Telemachus, is the first feature shot entirely on IMAX film cameras after Nolan and film presentation pioneer David Keighley developed lighter, quieter IMAX equipment capable of handling dialogue-heavy scenes.

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