Body Odyssey is a wildly psychodramatic and remarkably original dive into the dark and murky underbelly of the world of bodybuilding. We follow one character’s struggles as she prepares to compete in the Miss Universe bodybuilding pageant, while trying to keep her coach’s expectations balanced against her own physical and sexual needs.
Director Grazia Tricarico embraces the protagonist’s body and beautifully takes her time with alluring close-ups from every angle of Mona’s curves and skin, veins and hair follicles. The camera makes love to our protagonist Mona (played by Jacqueline Fuchs) with these shots throughout the film.
The very first sight we have of our protagonist in the opening minutes is the perfect example of this cinematography. With that shot, the director wants us to think this is a male’s body and then extremely slowly moves upward to reveal that it is actually a woman, which achieves its mission of surprise due to the sheer masculinity of her rugged build. This incredible and intense film is an art piece, and the art piece itself is our protagonist.
This film took 10 years of research within the world of bodybuilding. Writers Morana, Rizzo and Tricarico wanted to break the stereotype of steroids and show the level of mental control the athletes need to have in order to compete at their specialized level. It is their view that problems with steroids come from mental issues and not the steroids themselves; as with most drugs it’s the abuse of them that causes a downward spiral.
At the post film Q&A, Tricarico herself told the audience that “this story is about love and conflict with the body, and the conflict and obsession that we each have with our own body. Our body is a container from which we see the world. Is it a vehicle of freedom or rather a prison?” This prompts some intriguing introspection and never has a film prompted such questions in me. I love the originality here! The theme of body dysmorphia is central to the film in this way.
Body Odyssey also explores the theme of potential crisis of identity that can arise out of the desire to reconnect with the body – “a strive for peace with the body and/or steroids can either make or break that connection”, says Tricarico.
Every set location, every room, every landscape the film uses is a part of Mona’s body. The tall granite walls in her gym (aptly named ’The Temple’), the beautiful lake pier she visited to have her own introspection/moments of meditation. Everything felt so intentional it was marvelous.
Tricarico and her team intended to use Mona from the start because of her “solar energy” and sweet disposition. “She is not a professional actress but understood the emotions of the character because she was living those moments herself”, says Tricarico.
Further praise must absolutely be given to the sound engineers for their work on this piece. It took these engineers two years to find the right concoction of musical instruments and special effects to give Body Odyssey the correct texture of sound they were looking for. An example here is Mona’s inner voice that repeatedly talks to her while the audience watches her tussle with her voice’s direction. The result is an unmistakably sinister baritone voice that mimics a type of demonic creature quite horrific in nature, and it causes audience member’s ears to perk up immediately upon hearing it.
Body Odyssey was by far the most ‘arthouse’ style film out of the 11 features I got to enjoy at this year’s Fantastic Fest 2024, and getting to shake Tricarico’s hand at the end of the film and thank her was a special experience indeed. Lookout for this film. It already released in the US on November 15th of 2023.