Wordless Odysseus: Franco Piavoli’s Cinematic Adaptation of the Odyssey

Abstract

Franco Piavoli’s 1989 film Nostos occupies a unique position in the panorama of screen adaptations of Homer’s Odyssey. This little-known film captures the essence of Odysseus’journey while rejecting three core elements of the Odyssey: i) its well-defined narrative structure; ii) its emphasis on rhetoric and storytelling; iii) its pervasive divine apparatus. In this article, I examine the ways in which Piavoli intentionally departs from Homer in order to better convey the inner experience of a man lost at sea.