AMUSEMENTS

Taranaki Daily News, Volume LIV, Issue 252, 24 April 1912, Page 4

AMUSEMENTS

THE K'MPIIiE PICTURES. THE ADVENTURES OF ULYSSES. •Who lias not heard of Ulysses, the. mythological hero of one of the most brilliant epic poems ever written. Indeed, though it is somewhere in thf neighborhood or "2500 years since liomer (Homeros), the greatest name in Greek literature, gave to the light of day his masterpiece, "Odyssey," he has found no rival, and still stands supreme even above the great poets of modern times. The "Odys3ey" describes the adventure* of Ulysses, King of lthaea, in the ten years that elapsed after lie had distinguished himself at the Trojan war, and before he returned to his wife, Penelope, and his son Telemaehus. His adventures were many, and but that he was befriended by the gods he must have perished on more than one occasion. After having six of his companions devoured by Polymephus, whose eye he Ultimately destroys and thus escapes, he is given a bag of wind by Aeolus, but his companions open the bag, allowing the wind to escape, and tlvey are driven back. He lias an adventure with the enchantress Circe, who changes his companions into pigs. He also visits the infermal regions to consult a soothsayer how to return to his native land. After returning to earth he escapes various perils such as the wiles of the sirens, and the whirlpools and shoals of Soyelln and Charybdis. At Sicily, despite his warnings, some sacred oxen are killed, and Zeus (.Tupiter) destroys his ship by lightning, Ulysses alone escaping to the Island of Calypso, where he remained for seven rears. He departs on a raft but the god Posiedon, father of Poljpmeplius, avenges his son's loss of sight by sinking the raft. Ulysses, however, reaches an island, and narrates his story to the monarch, who takes compassion on hi in and conducts him to .his own country, after an absence of ten years. Minerva converts him into' ft tramp, and, unrecognised, he visits his court, where he discovered his wife besieged by a number of profligate suitors. With the aid of Telemaehus he disperses them with mucli slaughter. Such a powerful theme affords the fullest scope t« the cinematographic art and a private view of the picture, which will be shown at the Empire Theatre to-night, convinced a representative of the News yesterday that this picture was on the highest pinnacle in that respect. Indeed, it is hard to realise how the picture could be produced, even at the enormous expense of £30,000 (which was the actual cost of the production of the film), so realistic is it. It is difficult to realise that one is not witnessing the actual story, as pictured in the mind of Homer, sp true to color is the acting. There is such a wealth of detail, with no jarring note to recall one suddenly from the ancient classics. The appearance and disappearance of the goddess, and the various transformation scenes are very cleverly produced, whilst the mechanical effects, notably when the ship is struck bv lightning, are vividly real. The mounting is gorgeous, the spectacular effect being extra ncingly beautiful. The film is a very lengthy one, the screening occupying almost an hour. The picture will be on view tonight, Thursday and Friday, in the Empire Picture Palace, and will be supported by a fine programme.