Electra

Rating:
Summary: Where Do You Draw The Line?
Review: Electra is a 1962 black and white adaptation of the version of the story from Euripides. Electra (Irene Pappas) and Orestes take revenge on King Aegisthos and on their mother, Queen Klytemnestra, for killing their father, King Agamemnon. [It's interesting to compare "Electra" with "Hamlet".]

The movie is very close to the play. The main difference is an added portrayal of the arrival and murder of Agamemnon and the rescue of the young Orestes. Also, the death of Aegisthos now comes at a festival for Bacchos, rather than at a service to honor the Nymphs. These changes make sense for a modern audience.

Euripides is well served by the excellent acting and by the psychologically-correct bleak, isolating landscapes. It even looks as though the scenes at Mykenai may have been done on site. (The end credits are all Greek to me.)

(If the movie were remade to day, one might be tempted to have a computer-generated Palace. If one wanted to be historically accurate, the film maker might have had to partially reverse the severe soil erosion that accelerated the relative decline of the Argos area.)

While it is difficult to know why such a cloud of black-clothed women would hang around Electra's house in such a sparsely populated land, the handling of the Greek chorus is well done.

The movie can be heard in Greek, English, or French. There are subtitles in English, French, and Spanish. The music is small- scale Near Eastern. The only extra is the original theatrical trailer.

It is a classic movie from a classic source, given classic acting.

Rating:
Summary: Where Do You Draw The Line?
Review: Electra is a 1962 black and white adaptation of the version of the story from Euripides. Electra (Irene Pappas) and Orestes take revenge on King Aegisthos and on their mother, Queen Klytemnestra, for killing their father, King Agamemnon. [It's interesting to compare "Electra" with "Hamlet".]

The movie is very close to the play. The main difference is an added portrayal of the arrival and murder of Agamemnon and the rescue of the young Orestes. Also, the death of Aegisthos now comes at a festival for Bacchos, rather than at a service to honor the Nymphs. These changes make sense for a modern audience.

Euripides is well served by the excellent acting and by the psychologically-correct bleak, isolating landscapes. It even looks as though the scenes at Mykenai may have been done on site. (The end credits are all Greek to me.)

(If the movie were remade to day, one might be tempted to have a computer-generated Palace. If one wanted to be historically accurate, the film maker might have had to partially reverse the severe soil erosion that accelerated the relative decline of the Argos area.)

While it is difficult to know why such a cloud of black-clothed women would hang around Electra's house in such a sparsely populated land, the handling of the Greek chorus is well done.

The movie can be heard in Greek, English, or French. There are subtitles in English, French, and Spanish. The music is small- scale Near Eastern. The only extra is the original theatrical trailer.

It is a classic movie from a classic source, given classic acting.

Rating:
Summary: LOVE+PASSION+GREEKS=REAL MOVIE
Review: Greek director Michael Cacoyannis brings Euripedes' classic tragedy to the screen with great liberties. Taking off from the murder of Agamemnon, this version of the tragedy sticks to the basic story of Elektra marrying and the ensuing double murder. Yet, Cacoyannis has stripped away much of the original dialogue in favor of stark cinematography and silent stretches. Irene Papas is outstanding as the doomed heroine. Pure Cinematography...excellent film

Rating:
Summary: "The death of a king is never simple"
Review: I came to view this film the long way around. I have watched the Richard Straus Opera "Elektra" in which there are people of the same name but different spelling than the film. In the play Elektra the eldest daughter is upset because her mother Klytämnestra and her mother's lover Aegisth killed her father the king, Agamemnon. She calls on her father's spirit, and vows vengeance. Her younger sister Chrysothemis tries to talk her out of it. Her mother comes to here drugged and sleepless asking Elektra what can be done to make amends so her nightmares will end. Elektra tells her that the blood of an impure woman must be shed. Later Elektra is told that her brother, Orest is dead so she tells her sister that she must help kill the mother and lover. Orest turns up alive and is coaxed into killing first Klytämnestra and then Aegisth. So much emotional hate and joy is released that Elektra dances until she falls dead.

Then there are several translations of the play by Sophocles 410 BC.

Now we come to the interpretation for this 1962 film play directed by Michael Cacoyannis of "Zorba the Greek" fame. The film takes 113 minutes; Approximately 15 minutes of dialog, 30 minutes of mime to cut out the bulk of the dialog from the play, and the rest filler of people milling around. I do not mean to sound trite but be prepared for long moments where we have to listen to an off key string instrument or a bunch of horns th keep us focused of where the action should be. There is a moving song and a chorus that speaks out now and them. The set is the Greek landscape with a few structures. It is shot in black and white. This is saved by exceptional acting.

There is a touching scene where Agamemmnon retunes to great his wife and children. Then we watch as Clytemnestra and her lover Aegisthus net in Agamemmnon for the kill. Orestes gets led out to a foreign land and Electra is under house arrest until she grows up. She cuts off her hair in protest and is married off to an innocuous peasant. Will she ever get revenge? And is Orestes even alive? What ho, strangers approach.

This is a tale of "...A family so noble and so damned at the same time."

To get a different take on the story you can read "Care of the Soul: A Guide for Cultivating Depth and Sacredness in Everyday Life" by Thomas Moore, where he tells the story a little different in depicting the role of becoming a mother.

The media itself is a DVD with options of Greek: Mono, English: Mono or French: mono. Then the option also of English, French and Spanish Language Subtitles. The singing is done in Greek only but you can use English subtitles to tell what they are singing. There are no pamphlets with this package.


Rating:
Summary: those who live greatly ......
Review: Interesting that this 1962 film's director, Michael Cacoyannis, also directed Zorba the Greek and that the latter film also starred Irene Papas who plays the title character in Electra. It easily demonstrates Cacoyannis' artistry as a director, for in this film, he does a masterful job of interpreting the Euripides drama.

Filmed naturalistically in Greek settings, Electra does not disappoint. The great hero and king Agamemmnon is brutally murdered near the beginning of the story by his wife Clytemnestra and her lover Aegisthus. Electra and her brother Orestes, children of the royal couple, are both thrown out of their palatial home--Orestes is exiled, and Electra forced to marry a commoner and live in a hovel.

The term "Electra Complex" refers to a daughter's unnatural love for her father and while this is not overtly portrayed here, the hints are certainly in place. Even when her mother tells Electra of the king's infidelities the daughter defends him, citing the queen's own as proof of the latter's treachery.

Electra and Orestes take revenge on the couple who have killed their father--not without great remorse.

Cacoyannis' skill is demonstrated in his choice to film this work in black and white, accentuating the starkness of the tale, which contains numerous stretches of silence, an effective Greek chorus of village women (all clothed similarly in black), and an equally effective score by the great Greek composer Mikis Theodorakis who also composed the music for Zorba the Greek. The story is pure drama--the emotional elements are laid bare in the stripped to the bone dialogue that wastes no words.

The cinematography as well emphasizes the basic elements of earth and sky; black and white has seldom been used as well in a drama as it is here. Earth is the land of man where we live and die; sky is the land of the gods to whom we appeal for everything we want that we don't have. And whether or not we get what we want--who can say?

Highly recommended.

Rating:
Summary: Powerful drama
Review: Interesting that this 1962 film's director, Michael Cacoyannis, also directed Zorba the Greek and that the latter film also starred Irene Papas who plays the title character in Electra. It easily demonstrates Cacoyannis' artistry as a director, for in this film, he does a masterful job of interpreting the Euripides drama.

Filmed naturalistically in Greek settings, Electra does not disappoint. The great hero and king Agamemmnon is brutally murdered near the beginning of the story by his wife Clytemnestra and her lover Aegisthus. Electra and her brother Orestes, children of the royal couple, are both thrown out of their palatial home--Orestes is exiled, and Electra forced to marry a commoner and live in a hovel.

The term "Electra Complex" refers to a daughter's unnatural love for her father and while this is not overtly portrayed here, the hints are certainly in place. Even when her mother tells Electra of the king's infidelities the daughter defends him, citing the queen's own as proof of the latter's treachery.

Electra and Orestes take revenge on the couple who have killed their father--not without great remorse.

Cacoyannis' skill is demonstrated in his choice to film this work in black and white, accentuating the starkness of the tale, which contains numerous stretches of silence, an effective Greek chorus of village women (all clothed similarly in black), and an equally effective score by the great Greek composer Mikis Theodorakis who also composed the music for Zorba the Greek. The story is pure drama--the emotional elements are laid bare in the stripped to the bone dialogue that wastes no words.

The cinematography as well emphasizes the basic elements of earth and sky; black and white has seldom been used as well in a drama as it is here. Earth is the land of man where we live and die; sky is the land of the gods to whom we appeal for everything we want that we don't have. And whether or not we get what we want--who can say?

Highly recommended.

Rating:
Summary: Cacoyanis one of the giants directors in any age
Review: Irene Papas as Elektra gives probably her finest perfomance ever. Cacoyanis made an exceptional translating process with this drama from Euripides.
The fundamental atmosphere of the female chorus and all the haunting drama hidden about the revenge to make justice is told
brilliantly.
Cacoyanis shows us why he was blessed by the Gods .
Acquire this superb masterpiece.

Rating:
Summary: those who live greatly ......
Review: must greatly suffer - something along that line - but that quote belongs to the Sophocles version - this one's a little more method - although slightly too emotional [but then - there goes ther movie and the performances!] Always bearing in mind that these great works were written as rituals - not as .... entertainment. [This version is slightly too close to the kitchen sink - smatters of that great Juliette Greco vehicle "The Crack in the Mirror"].

BUT for what this version is worth IRENE PAPAS is spectacular as the misbegotten daughter seeking revenge - choreography of the chorus is superb as is the bleak, bleak cinematography.

Perfect and no doubt authentically researched costume design.

Rating:
Summary: The Greeks knew their psychology!
Review: This screen version of ELEKTRA shows how ancient Greek culture knew instinctively so much about human psychology long before Freud came along to carry on the good work. It is a deeply moving and cathartic experience that touches upon dark recesses in the human psyche, and too, confronts our philosophic "certainties". Above all, it teaches us that most valuable lesson; that guilt cannot be imagined - the deed has to be performed and then, and only then, does guilt or justification enter into your consciousness. Elektra and Orestes feel totally justified in killing their mother, but, when she gives her side to the story, doubts begin to ebb in, and once the deed is done, nothing can absolve the guilt and shame that descend on their shoulders. A powerful, potent film, superbly made, acted and assembled, and one of the very few, in a long lifetime of movie watching, that I have given my top star rating to! Am delighted that it is at long last available, because it is unjustly neglected and forgotten. Highly recommended.