‘Greatest director out there’: Nolan fans fly into London to see The Odyssey at BFI Imax | The Odyssey

HEDysseus made his name by embarking on a perilous journey from Troy to Ithaca, as well as a few impromptu diversions with the permission of the gods. But that’s nothing for Christian Campbell, who traveled more than 4,000 miles to see the epic tale of the Greek king on the big screen last night.

The 22-year-old film graduate, who aspires to be an editor, traveled from Atlanta to London to watch Christopher Nolan’s interpretation of Homer’s epic poem The Odyssey.

Like many people who gathered at the BFI Imax in south London ahead of the film’s first midnight screening, he bought his tickets a year in advance. “I originally planned to go to New York, but when tickets dropped, they sold out immediately,” he says. He also had bad luck getting a ticket in Georgia. “And I was thinking the third best option was London.”

Not only is this his first time in the British capital, it is also Campbell’s first time leaving the United States. Although Nolan’s first reason for coming to London was to see The Odyssey in his own home, his aunt Donna joined him and they turned the trip into a vacation.

BFI Imax, near Waterloo Bridge, is one of only a few cinemas in the world to screen The Odyssey in Imax 1570, the highest definition film format in existence and the first feature film shot entirely on a 1570 camera.

Each weighs 180kg, and Nolan worked with Imax to develop a soundproof “zeppelin” that would enable him to record dialogue on heavy-duty cameras for the first time, quiet enough to record dialogue. While this certainly doesn’t detract from the film’s massive $250m (£186m) budget, it looks set to pay off. Box office estimates indicate that Odyssey could gross between $80 million and $100 million in its first weekend in North America alone.

Campbell was eight years old when he watched his first (and favorite) Nolan movie, The Dark Knight, even though it had a PG-13 rating. “My uncle would play it for me and leave out the bad parts,” he says. He watched all of the director’s other films and got the same response: “Damn, that was great.”

Also on the epic journey was Marco Garbely, who traveled from Switzerland with two friends and landed in London just hours before heading to the BFI Imax wearing a shirt commemorating their favorite director.

The 30-year-old man, who works in the healthcare industry, said he was a little nervous before the review embargo was broken on Wednesday because “our standards for it are so high.” But their fears were assuaged when the film was released with a 99% rating on Rotten Tomatoes (which has since fallen to still 96%). In a five-star review, the Guardian called the film a breathtaking “god-level” epic.

He was also concerned that far-right criticism, including from Elon Musk, regarding the casting of Lupita Nyong’o as Helen might affect the reception of the film. “It’s quite far-fetched. It’s a myth invented 1,000 years ago. We have no evidence of how Helen lived or what she must have looked like,” he says.

Next to Garbely is Julian Jäger, 30, who works in finance. He says Nolan “had quite an impact on our childhood and how we understand cinema.” He remembers watching Inception at the cinema when he was 15. This remains his favorite Nolan film. “It’s so interesting that it doesn’t look like an ordinary action movie,” he says.

While Garbely considers 2023’s Oppenheimer to be Nolan’s “best work,” he hopes “it can be surpassed tonight.” Either way, he can get a second opinion on Friday because the trio has tickets to see the movie two nights in a row.

For Rachana Mettem, the visit to BFI Imax was “basically a break” between landing in London from Ireland and taking a trip to Edinburgh. He bought his tickets a year in advance. The 26-year-old student remembers watching Ghajini, which was inspired by Nolan’s sophomore hit. ““At first I grew up thinking it was a Bollywood movie, but it turned out it was based on Memento,” he says.

One wonders why Himesh Patel, who plays a major role in Odyssey, didn’t play a more prominent role in the press tour. “I think Hollywood highlights white actors and makes them the center point rather than people of color who have different roles in the film,” he says.

While most people in the cinema did not choose to wear a helmet, Walee Ahmed did everything to experience the real Odyssey. The 26-year-old data analyst says Nolan is “probably one of the best directors out there.” He saw Oppenheimer nine times. “As a cinema experience, it’s top-notch, and the soundtrack is one of my favourites. I listen to it every other day,” he says.

She was able to see Nolan in person when she received the BFI scholarship; This was something his friend Forhad Alom would also love to experience. “I’m not much of a movie buff, but when it comes to Nolan, I’m not playing games,” says the 29-year-old officer. “That’s my Goat. I used to admire the stars.”

He plans to watch the movie again on Friday night, but he can make a good profit if he wants to part with this ticket. While screenings at BFI Imax were sold out until the beginning of August, some screenings were also sold out listed For more than £500 on eBay.

Helmet in hand, Ahmed entered the sold-out screening to join his fellow Nolan enthusiasts. As the clock approached midnight, the lobby, which had been turbulent moments before, fell silent. After a year of waiting for many, the cinematic journey was finally beginning.