Universal Pictures/Lucasfilm
Christopher Nolan says part of 'The Odyssey' was inspired by 'Star Wars'
Christopher Nolan has revealed that the opening text of The Odyssey was directly inspired by one of the most iconic title cards in cinema history: the opening crawl of George Lucas’ Star Wars.
In a new interview, Christopher Nolan described how George Lucas’s decision to open the original Star Wars with “A long time ago in a galaxy far, far away…” shaped his approach to The Odyssey‘s opening — specifically the word “apparent” in the film’s framing text.
Christopher Nolan says Star Wars‘ opening title card inspired how he framed the world of The Odyssey for audiences
“One of my earliest movie experiences, a very profound one, was seeing George Lucas’s first ‘Star Wars,'” Nolan said. “He began that film with a title that said, ‘A long time ago in a galaxy far, far away…’ That immediately told me how to watch the film. It put me in the right frame of mind to receive the imagery.”
Nolan said he was chasing the same effect with The Odyssey — a single piece of text that tells the audience how to receive what they’re about to see.
“I felt I was chasing that kind of experience where you want to create a world that the audience loses themselves in and takes on its own terms. The word ‘apparent’ in particular was very much about acknowledging the idea that if we tell the story realistically, to some extent we have to explain why there is magic.”
The Odyssey , which is now playing in theaters, has become the highest-grossing movie of Christopher Nolan’s career.