OVID.tv Presents METAMORPHOSES Film Review — A Retelling of Myths

We watch inside Io’s car as she drives down a road cutting through the wilderness. Suddenly, the car is surrounded by a dense fog. She then parks on the side of the road, and the camera follows her as she exits. The camera looks over Io’s shoulder when she sees Jupiter, standing a few paces away in the background; he was waiting for her. Just as Jupiter tries to grab her, Io runs away and we watch her panic as she becomes lost in the fog. As Io screams for help, Jupiter at last captures her. As soon as Jupiter seduces her, we cut away to a scene of Junon, queen of the gods, collecting plants as she saunters down a road. She sees Jupiter and Io laying naked in a field behind a tree and a few bushes. As she gets closer to where the two were laying, she discovers that Io has transformed into a cow. On discovering the cow, Junon states that she will give her to Argus, whose body is covered with a hundred eyes.

Later, we cut to a scene of Syrinx walking behind a white shopping mall, carrying several plastic bags. Once she sees Pan, depicted as a hairy man only wearing a pair of sneakers, she runs away into a grassy field, where we can see electric poles and concrete buildings on the horizon. Pan then pounces upon the fleeing nymph, and she transforms into reeds.

And so, Metamorphoses continues, using the objects and contexts of today to retell the classic epic poem by Ovid.

OVID.tv’s METAMORPHOSES is a Clash of the Ancient and the Modern

In director Christoph Honore’s adaptation of Ovid’s epic poem, we don’t see ancient landscapes, but instead see a modern French city with the gods, heroes, and monsters of Roman mythology. Europe is seduced by Jupiter when he takes the form of a tractor trailer, instead of a bull as was described in the original text. Narcisse yearns to love someone as much as he loves himself in a basketball court, Atalante and Hippomène are transformed into lions in an abandoned office building, and a doctor is blessed with the power of foresight after he was cursed with blindness in a hospital waiting room.

A Testament to the Endurance of Stories from a Bygone Era

In this writer’s opinion, while Metamorphosis is an intriguing retelling on Roman myths, it doesn’t rise to the level of a life memorable retelling or trade up from the classic. The many people who can’t get enough of Roman mythology in all its manifestations might find something here to feed their passions.  For the rest of us, reading the Ovid original might be a better use of time.

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Creative Team:

Director and Screenwriter: Christopher Honore
Producer: Philippe Martin
Cinematographer: Andre Chemetoff
Editor: Chantal Hymans

Cast:

Amira Akili as Europe
Sébastien Hirel as Jupiter
Damien Chapelle as Bacchus
Mélodie Richard as Junon
George Babluani as Orphée
Matthis Lebrun as Actéon
Samantha Avrillaud as Diane
Coralie Rouet as Io
Nadir Sonmez as Mercure
Vincent Massimino as Argus

To watch the film, visit the OVID.tv page for METAMORPHOSES.

Images courtesy of OVID.tv