justagreekfilm: Greek films that draw their themes and visuals from the antiquity: Ηλέ&ka

justagreekfilm:Greek films that draw their themes and visuals from the antiquity: Ηλέκτρα / Electra (1962), by Michael CacoyannisElectra is one of the masterpieces of greek cinema, which went on to garner international acclaim. For its sake a new award was invented at the Cannes Film Festival, the award for Best Cinematic Transposition. The film was also nominated for the Academy Award for Best Foreign Language Film. The film also won awards for best film, best director and best actress (Irene Pappa) in the Thessaloniki Film Festival- the biggest film festival in southeast Europe.Electra is based on Euripides’ Electra, endearingly called “the rural” one. Euripide’s Electra is set in a village. Electra has been married off to a villager, so that her offspring won’t be able to exact revenge on her mother Clytemnestra and her lover Aegisthus. However her husband who doesn’t regard their marriage fair, or legitimate, helps her conspire with her brother Orestes and Pyllades to overthrow the two tyrants.Electra is portrayed by renowned tragic actress Irene Pappa. The director of the film makes extraordinary use of black and white to highlight the mythic aspects of the story. There is a strong contrast between the world of the palace, and the world of the country. A constant chorus of people are excellently utilized as witnesses to the drama of the main cast. The images characterized by a solemn lyricism breathed fresh air in the contemporary interpretations of ancient drama.In general Euripides’ dramas are always preferred for both theater and cinema, since actors and directors deem his character portrayals as deeply nuanced and closer to modern audiences. However, in the case of “Electra”, Sophocles’ play is considered superior. The two “Electras” are considered to have been written and performed at the same period, some references between the two have led scholars to believe that one of them is a reference to the other. Some champion that Sophocles wrote his Electra after seeing Euripides’, deciding to teach the youngster a proper lesson in tragic writing. But others contradict that it was Euripides who decided to make a “subversive” version of Sophocles’ Electra. Both playwrights seemed to have been influenced in their decision to write this play, by a new staging of Aeschylus’ trilogy, Oresteia. Usually greek dramas were performed only once, but Aeschylus’s plays having attained “classic” status among his contemporaries, were staged after his death.*You can watch this on youtube, I think I saw english subtitles somewhere*one day, I promise you I will fish out all the bibliography for this from the bottom of my “university day” boxes at storage -- source link

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