Rating: 
Summary: Pasolini's best.
Review: A great film where we recognize Pasolini's talent and interests. I highly recommend it.
Rating: 
Summary: Another footnote . . .
Review: A lot has been written about the scene that is shown twice. While it is definitely deliberate, I wouldn't say that its NOT a mistake. Pasolini can be frustrating. Half the time you think you are watching a genius re-invent cinema - the other half you are wondering if he even knows which end of the camera to point. After a brilliant opening half I thought I was watching what was surely to become one of my favorite films. Pasolini's interpretation seemed just right - it seemed he had something legitimate to contribute this time. And Callas is perfectly cast. Then we settle into the part that, dramatically speaking, can't go wrong - Medea's betrayal and revenge. It is here, of all places, that Pasolini begins to stumble. The narrative becomes unfocused, passion is dumped in favor of vagueness, the director half-heartedly tries out a number of ideas that don't really work, and we feel robbed of the impact that a straightforward approach would have given us. Feeling all of the tension drain out of this film after such a strong start is a major letdown. By the climax the only grounding force is Callas - and it seems as if Pasolini is working against her, against the story, and against his own film. The real shame here is that Callas ultimately isn't allowed to give us the Medea that she could have. Still, the magic of the first half cannot be completely destroyed - and at no time does this fillm even come close to being as tedious and pretentious as Pasolini's Oedipus.
Rating: 
Summary: A footnote to the other reviews
Review: Am I the only one to notice that the killing of the Princess and her father is shown twice in the DVD version? (Is it in the tape edition also?) We see them burst into flame, then we go back to Medea planning the murder, and then we see it again! I wrote to the distributor and he said he forwarded my comments to the producers. I never heard a word from the latter. So I am posting this to ask if any one else has noticed this strange duplication. I would very much appreciate hearing from any body whose copy has the same flaw or does not.
Rating:
Summary: A must-see for Callas and Pasolini fans
Review: Callas is great as Medea; that was one of her most riveting roles on the opera stage. Here one can sense what a unique artist she was, as she is incredible in this dramatic role. Other than Callas's participation, it's a beautiful piece of cinema, it's shot similarly to Oedipus Rex by Pasolini, so you wil enjoy it if you like Rex. Writing this review, I am thinking again of why films like that are not made anymore...It is for a serious movie buff, so give it a miss if you like Hollywood mass production.
Rating: 
Summary: A Humiliation
Review: How could anyone cast the greatest diva of the 20th century in this disgrace? No wonder La Divina never made another picture. Compared to "Revenge of the Zombies" or "Plan 9 from Outer Space" this one is a step down. Understandably, Callas never made another motion picture. Who could have faced a camera after this catastrophe? See it only to know how beautiful Callas was--and how deeply she was humiliated after her career had ended. Sad, sad.
Rating:
Summary: Barbaric, Raw and Brilliant
Review: I first saw Medea in college and was highly critical of it, finding it disappointing on almost all counts: terrible sound editing, cheap film stock, over bright lighting, bizarre, amateurish acting styles, inadequately edited, etc. Then there was the extended murder scene of Glauce and Creon going seemingly on forever, and then . . . wait; what's this? It's repeated all over again? Did someone get the wrong reel into the house?
Another ten years went by before I watched it again and after the second viewing, found myself emotionally drained, my jaw on the floor with the realization that I'd just finished a film that alternately horrified, fascinated and astonished me.
Medea is a grim, violent, film, minimally processed which only adds to its gruesome, wild rawness. This is Pasolini's Medea, not Euripedes and it is not easy viewing. Its wild, African/Middle Eastern score with the nasal bleating of women's voices in near pre-historic sounding rhythmic chant adds further to the element of being "out there" this film produces: This is about as far away from popular cinema as one can get. Medea doesn't easily compare to films of any other style or genre; not even with some of Pasolini's other work. But, if you can succumb to its hypnotic, mesmerizing pace at once both frenetic and static - you will realize this is as about as close to a hallucinatory experience one can achieve without the use of an illegal substance. Granted, not everyone wants that experience.
As Medea, Callas is simply amazing. Oddly, when the film came out she was roundly criticized for not being able to transfer the magic she so naturally gave on stage to the big screen. I will strongly disagree. The more I watch this film (which is probably several times a year for well over a decade), the more amazed I am by her performance in it. Where I, too, had first been critical of her languid weirdness, I've grown to see her
commitment to the role. I've come to be riveted to her painfully expressive mask as she completely inhabits this character who is, quite literally, capable of everything (yes - everything is the right word here).
Where I was once critical of the lighting, I've grown up to realize what Pasolini did; why he chose to film at the times of day he chose, and the resulting, fascinatingly brutal and surreal luminosity that bathes the entire film and the almost palpable sense of its visual texture. Stunning. The landscapes Pasolini chose to film in are as brutal and as vital as the characters of the tale. His near excision of all spoken text ( the screenplay is nearly dialogue free) brings us into a timeless, yet somehow ancient world where all is understood without the use of verbal communication. The savage, bloody rites of sacrifices for fertility and harvest initially seem barbarous then become somehow beautiful and fascinating. Then they make one cringe with the realization of how, not so long ago, this was us.
A remarkable, savage and beautiful film.
Rating:
Summary: An Ancient Woman
Review: Just as Pasolini said,"I draw on the mysterious sensibilities in Maria Callas". He finds Callas to be "an ancient woman" in the sense that she is directly linked to myth and legend. With very little spoken word Callas manages to convey all the pride, rage, and black art that comprises the legend of Medea. Set against an incredibly dramatic backdrop the viewer is nearly hypnotized by this savage story of lust and power.
To the reviewer who thought that the repeated scene of the death of the king and his daughter was a technical error, watch it carefully again. Medea dreams the act of revenge first, then sets it into motion and the dream becomes reality. This is in all the films of this I have seen. It is not a mistake.
Rating:
Summary: An Ancient Woman
Review: Just as Pasolini said,"I draw on the mysterious sensibilities in Maria Callas". He finds Callas to be "an ancient woman" in the sense that she is directly linked to myth and legend. With very little spoken word Callas manages to convey all the pride, rage, and black art that comprises the legend of Medea. Set against an incredibly dramatic backdrop the viewer is nearly hypnotized by this savage story of lust and power.
To the reviewer who thought that the repeated scene of the death of the king and his daughter was a technical error, watch it carefully again. Medea dreams the act of revenge first, then sets it into motion and the dream becomes reality. This is in all the films of this I have seen. It is not a mistake.
Rating:
Summary: "DIVORCE - GREEK STYLE"
Review: Now - Before the the stones start flying, "Divorce, Ancient Greek Style". What a concept! For those in the dark:- Our Myth, err gal [Medea] "ups" from her native country, [helps to chop up her brother - serious stuff here - along the route to make this 'look like a brutal kidnapping'], shacks up with this semi-Grecian godlike being - Jason of the Golden fleece ilk, bears him a few kids. THEN the so-and-so starts fooling around with a local King's daughter [younger and hmmm... prettier], so our Lady, Madame Medea, plots a rather shall we say spectacular "revenge" ..... the kids are snuffed out, the other woman gets this rather beautiful wedding dress [Odd, no return address on the box], just a little problem, don't try this one on "for size", oh dear - she does, and the result is not fuzzy, but slightly, err - warm....... There's more to this! However, forgive the flippant tone, but that's basically the blue collar version of this saga of spectacular "revenge"? AND No, Callas, does not sing in this one! It's quite a magnificent portrait of ancient times, seen as only Pasolini could, in very "accurate" and raw terms. Great Art direction [as usual] and Costumes [as usual] CALLAS is superb! As is Guiseppe Gentile as JASON [the two-timing husband]. Superb visuals - the bedroom scene between Jason and Medea as he posesses her physically and we get that great close-up ......just what is he thinking? Also hints at her primitive and very different culture - wanting to "pin" the four corners of earth down so to speak. Companions? Melina Mercouri's rather interesting slant on this - Jules Dassin's "Dream of Passion" with Burstyn - a "modern" interpretation. We do need this movie restored and on DVD! [Along with the other missing Pasolinis]
Rating:
Summary: "DIVORCE - GREEK STYLE"
Review: Now - Before the the stones start flying, "Divorce, Ancient Greek Style". What a concept! For those in the dark:- Our Myth, err gal [Medea] "ups" from her native country, [helps to chop up her brother - serious stuff here - along the route to make this 'look like a brutal kidnapping'], shacks up with this semi-Grecian godlike being - Jason of the Golden fleece ilk, bears him a few kids. THEN the so-and-so starts fooling around with a local King's daughter [younger and hmmm... prettier], so our Lady, Madame Medea, plots a rather shall we say spectacular "revenge" ..... the kids are snuffed out, the other woman gets this rather beautiful wedding dress [Odd, no return address on the box], just a little problem, don't try this one on "for size", oh dear - she does, and the result is not fuzzy, but slightly, err - warm....... There's more to this! However, forgive the flippant tone, but that's basically the blue collar version of this saga of spectacular "revenge"? AND No, Callas, does not sing in this one! It's quite a magnificent portrait of ancient times, seen as only Pasolini could, in very "accurate" and raw terms. Great Art direction [as usual] and Costumes [as usual] CALLAS is superb! As is Guiseppe Gentile as JASON [the two-timing husband]. Superb visuals - the bedroom scene between Jason and Medea as he posesses her physically and we get that great close-up ......just what is he thinking? Also hints at her primitive and very different culture - wanting to "pin" the four corners of earth down so to speak. Companions? Melina Mercouri's rather interesting slant on this - Jules Dassin's "Dream of Passion" with Burstyn - a "modern" interpretation. We do need this movie restored and on DVD! [Along with the other missing Pasolinis]
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