Fest Track On Sirk TV Film Review: THE RETURN [Toronto Intl Film Festival 2024 - Toronto, Ontario]

The context of a journey is.never more attentive than the one of Odysseus. in Homer’s The Iliad, It is about aftermath and consequence. Ralph Fiennes places the titular character in play with a reserve more distinct than we have seen from him in years. What is interesting is the split of stories. “The Return” [Gala Presentations/World Premiere] is more a story of a coward coming to terms with his consequence before he has a chance to understand why he did what he did (despite the fact that decades have passed). The progression of course is about regret but also about tesponsibility. Juliette Binoche’s Penelope is the opposite. For her, it is about loyalty versus legacy. The interesting part is how she plays her own games whether she is aware of them or not. Charlie Plummer is their son, a bastion and a curse to the other men onto the island whom his father represented. He is but a weakling but it plays into the notion of identity.

Ithaca is a place bereft in its shaping because of the way the slaves and aristocracy work. Shooting on the Greek Island of Cortho there is an old school feeling in the proceedings and surroundings which director Uberto Pasolini has converted into a sense of dread. There is no sense of the fantastical….no CGI…only the eyes which play a big part in the response, especially with Fiennes. The movie builds and the music reflects it. It is a slow burn but it shows the inevitability of legacy and yet what can be lost. As Penelope says, “We can remember together and forget again.” “The Return” understands this importance and the need for blood to be spilled. A-

By Tim Wassberg