The story may have been told many times before, but Uberto Pasolini’s sombre, handsome interpretation of Homer’s Odyssey has a few things going for it. The location – Corfu, shot with a tawny late-summer glow, doubling for Ithaca – is one. But the main draw is the cast, with Ralph Fiennes sinewy and racked by self-doubt and guilt as Odysseus, returned from war after a 20-year absence, and a compelling turn from Juliette Binoche as Penelope. Both are terrific, but Binoche is the standout. The camera rests on her face when she first realises that the dishevelled vagrant is her missing husband: the turmoil of pain, fury and anguished love that Binoche conveys with her eyes alone is almost too intense to watch.

• In UK and Irish cinemas