Uberto Pasolini's 'Itaca – Il ritorno' reimagines Homer's Odyssey as a family drama

Uberto Pasolini's film 'Itaca – Il ritorno,' starring Ralph Fiennes, Juliette Binoche, and Claudio Santamaria, premiered at the Festa del Cinema di Roma and will be released in Italian cinemas on January 30 via 01Distribution. The director, who spent thirty years developing the project, describes it as an 'Odyssey of the mind' that focuses on the reunion of a family after war, stripping away monsters and gods. Pasolini condensed events from Homer's epic and drew inspiration from interviews with Vietnam War veterans to explore themes of violence and homecoming. The film reorders the original narrative to emphasize contemporary social and anthropological issues, such as fatherhood, solitude, and resilience. It marks the first major cinematic adaptation of the Odyssey since Mario Camerini's 'Ulisse' in 1954.