Flukes, Strays, Shadows

Automation can’t compete with the material delight of chance encounter in storytelling, writes Peter Jukes

Within a month of opening, The Odyssey has earned close to a billion dollars – a rare modern movie hit without a comic book superhero, a sequel, or a franchise behind it. But part of the reason for the film’s blockbuster success, apart from its timely Homeric themes of war and forced migration, is down to accident.

One obvious accident is the sudden emergence from the waves of a pod of dolphins as Odysseus, played by Matt Damon, grips the rails of his small boat.

According to Nilo Otero, the film’s first assistant director, this unscripted appearance was a complete fluke. They were filming a close-up of Damon when the wild bottlenoses just jumped right into shot.