Collider got a chance to speak with Pasolini and Plummer aboutThe Return.
UBERTO PASOLINI: Hi, Taylor.
Good to meet you.
Image via Bleeker Street
Well, we felt that it was very, very important to ground the story in reality.
At the script stage, we decided to focus on people rather than monsters, gods, travels.
With the cinematographer, that’s what the conversation really was.
Image via TIFF
That was the aim.
We didn’t make a run at invent what Greece might have been in 1300 before the current era.
We just found a language which is universal and contemporary, too.
After 20 years away, a weary warrior returns to his homeland of Ithaca, only to find his kingdom in disarray and his wife besieged by suitors. This retelling of the classic myth explores the hero’s journey to reclaim his home, confront the changes in his absence, and restore order amidst the upheaval. Themes of loyalty, perseverance, and the impact of time shape this powerful reimagining of Homer’s “Odyssey."
I told the designer and the costume designer, I don’t want your work to be noticed.
We were absorbing our environment and channeling it into the camera.
Charlie Plummer Had a Huge Feeling of Relief Reading The Returns Script
No, absolutely.
I feel like that really shines through.
I was curious if you could talk a little bit about that this movie through this almost coming-of-age lens.
CHARLIE PLUMMER: Mm, yeah.
But there is that internal development that’s absolutely driving a tremendous amount of the story.
It always just kind of was understood.
And it’s a great script, as you were saying.
In Homer itself, Odysseus is a very messed-up individual.
He cries when he thinks about Troy.
We have him cry when he thinks about Troy.
He does not think of himself as a hero.
The confessions of a Vietnam vet, to me, is fundamental.
And you mentioned PTSD, and yes, it is.
It is a man with PTSD.
It is a man who has to be helped,willbe helped.
That’s in the next movie were going to make.
[Laughs]
The sequel!
The Returnis now in theaters.
