Artemis

“There are Two Gates of Disembodied Dreams: The Gate of Horn and the Gate of Ivory. Those dreams that reach us through carved ivory bring words that damage us…But dreams that take the Gate of Polished Horn…do foretell what is in truth to come.” [Penelope, Book 19 ‘The Odyssey’ of Homer] Penelope, the mythical character from Homer’s The Odyssey, is waiting for her husband Odysseus to return from war. In this film adaptation, set in a mythic time and space, with contemporary influences and attitudes, Penelope is both archetype and human being. She wanders alone through the halls of her castle, each room a different memory. In these rooms she has visions of her husband, as past, present and future become indistinguishable from each other. Her visions are an escape from the loneliness of the present and increasingly dislocate her from the world around her: the companionship of her maidservants and the feasting mythical suitors who have gathered in her halls.