Electre

As an adaptation of a two thousand year old Greek tragedy, Michael Cacoyannis' "Electra" is hard to beat, and I cannot imagine it being improved upon by any further attempt on it now: there is a stripped down starkness and simplicity to it that benefits it greatly, and lends it the haunting quality of myth that no amount of CGI could better.

It has immaculately brooding, glowing cinematography, unsurpassably shot amid the ancient stones of Mycenae itself, and the music by Mikis Theodorakis (of Zorba The Greek fame) is timeless and perfect.

If I had to point out any weaknesses at all, perhaps Irene Papas in the title role looks a little too 60s in her look, although her acting is fine. There's a couple of gaps in the narrative that should probably have been filmed and inserted, as their absence either weakens the drama or feels confusing. But these are small quibbles.

Several times while watching I found myself thinking it would make a good double bill with Orson Welles' Othello, as it feels cut from a similar cloth, though it is a better film for being less wordy. Recommended.

each time when I see it, I discover "Electra" as revelation. for the great cinematography, for beautiful performances, for the admirable translation of the play of Euripides in precise portrait of feelings, guilty, desire, the huge sin. all is the part from a lost world. the traces of words, the clash between white and black, the group of women, the landscapes, the knowledge of viewer who is only a piece of clay for Cacoyannis. Irene Papas as the only Electra , like in manner in which, in "Iphigenia", she is the unique Clitemnestra. Giannis Feris as the Orestes who preserves in his presence entire spirit of old Greek statuary art. and, for a long time in the case of me, the axis of film, Aleka Katselli, remembering the memories about Micene and the Troyan war from the history lessons.a film who remains a revelation. about the deep essence of humankind.

Do I like this movie because it appeals to my lingering intellectual snobbery and belief that the old-time Greeks, particularly Euripides were onto something? I can't deny that it's part of the reason, but surely the staging and Walter Lassally's striking black-and-white photography and Irene Papas' smoldering performance help. I won't give my customary synopsis, because you shouldn't need it. Nowadays we are no longer familiar with the revenge drama, which fell out of favor after the 16th century, but if you've ever seen Hamlet, you know what it is, with its bloodiness that should soothe our own blood lust. Perhaps we need to make them more often these days, with everyone dying at the end. Perhaps it would ease some of the tensions of modern America; our politics all too often seem to be about hurting the right people; perhaps a dramatic version of the Sandy Hook Massacre would make people think twice. Or perhaps it would make them think "Boy, that's cool!"

Such deep philosophical questions aside, this one is worth it for the stark beauty of the torchlit night scenes, and the ancient, ruined landscape of modern Greece. Plus a heckuva story and performances.

From the first moment I saw the movie I rejoiced every bit of it : the crisp splendid black-and-white photography introducing an overwhelmingly barren landscape interacting with the drama we all know to come, the haunting "ancestral" score by Theodorakis, the impact of all sounds, the use of the choir with its laments and warnings and commentaries on everything and everybody, the tensions between good and evil mixed with love and hate, the unavoidable fate of the protagonists who cannot escape destiny as prescribed by bloodline and gods.

Besides being moved by too many unforgettable scenes enforced by splendid suggestive cutting (the actual murders, Electra's cutting her hair for the revenge to come, the confrontations between mother and daughter or brother and sister expressing their antagonistic emotions), the ultimate brilliance this masterpiece is Irene Papas outcry of grief and distress, the camera turning on itself as taking literally heaven and earth as her witness.

Appealing as strong to me as E. Munch's cry or Picasso's Guernica, I visited Mycene much later and still felt the movie's impact discovering this cursed place through Cacoyannis' lens.

An extraordinary film from a visual and dramatic standpoint, _Elektra_ unfortunately too often plays like a _Cliff's Notes_ version of Euripedes' work (although, in all fairness, I must note that the film is only "based on" the classical play). The essential structure is there: Agamemnon's murder, the banishment of Orestes, Elektra's marriage, the reuniting of the grown children, the double murder. But by clipping away much of the Euripedean dialogue, much depth of characterization is lost. The principles become one-dimensional, with only hints of the complexity which makes the story so overwhelming. However, the stark cinematography and fine acting make this film eminently watchable, particularly at the climatic matricide sequence.