Oedipus Rex

I first saw this film (in a movie theater) in 1962 and had no idea what I was watching. Years later, as a high school and college English instructor, I knew lots about Greek tragedy and this version of Oedipus the King remains one of my favorite dramatic experiences. You can't find William Butler Yeats' translation in print anymore because the (ahem) "scholars" have decided it's not totally accurate. Ever read any of the "scholarly" translations of Greek tragedy? Those professors can't write poetry to save their lives. They make tragedy boring and stuffy. Yeats makes it breathe. And Tyrone Guthrie made tragedy "pop" in this thrilling 1957 production. In tune with Aristotelean requirements, there is a bare stage with a representation of Oedipus' palace. The actors and chorus members wear masks (very close to the spirit of original masks found by archaeologists), and they chant and move in dance-like cadences. At first, it may seem bizarre, but when you understand that you are being transported 2000 years into the past and watching drama being born out of religious ritual, you can sense the raw power of watching arrogant Oedipus fall into ruin. The performances are visceral and dangerous, the colors beautiful, the effect shattering. And you also get to see a boyish William Shatner before he became Captain Kirk (you'll see him in the brief introduction; once he puts on a mask you'll have no idea which one he is). Unlike the pretentious film auteurs of today who meander on and on, Sophocles packed his cautionary tale of human frailty into 90 taut minutes. I used this video for years in my Advanced Placement English classes, but I've also watched it many times just for entertainment.

Contrary to a previous reviewer's remark, you CAN see William Shatner in this film. During the brief introductory prologue, three of the actors are seen without their masks, and Shatner (looking very young) is one of them. Otherwise, he is in the chorus, masked. Another of the actors (playing the messenger) is Douglas Rain, who later provided the voice of HAL 9000 in 2001: A SPACE ODYSSEY.

As for the movie, it is definitely a curiosity. The masks are extraordinary, and as a lifelong devotee of the Greek tragedies, I found this production well worth watching. Oedipus's story is not only a journey of psychological self-discovery, but it's also probably the first murder mystery ever written; Sophocles, like every modern mystery novelist, had to work out the precise order of cumulative details and revelations to bring the climax to a head. All the shocking revelations about the king come tumbling out precisely because he long ago committed murder and kept his crimes a secret.

This is a 1957 recording of the stage production of Sophocles' Oedipus Rex. It is performed with minimal props and some smoke. As the custom of ancient Greece, the players wear masks. The masks are larger than life and do not cover the whole face allowing for some expression and clarity. Coordinating with the masks are certain colored robes; there is a gold mask for the king, silver mask for the queen, a white mask for the seer, corresponding colors for major players and the chorus.

Speaking of the chorus. I have the DVD and have watched it several times. Suddenly, looking at the chorus, there was a 26-year-old William Shatner; he looks like a baby.

The play is the story told over two thousand years ago of the destruction of one man so that his people might live. Oedipus will gradually discover that he fulfilled the prophecy and crime of killing his father and marrying his mother. The actual wording of the play may vary from the written version.

Now after the introduction and background, watch as the citizens approach and see the unfolding of this tragedy.

Reading "Oedipus and Akhnaton" by Immanuel Velikovsky may shine a different light on this play.

Sophocles, William Butler Yeats, Tyrone Guthrie -- sounds like a winning combination, doesn't it? And for the most part it is. Like Shakespeare's Hamlet, it may be one of the best known plays in the Western world. Unlike Shakespeare, though, it cannot really be done "realistically." Greek drama is not realistic, but highly formal. What Guthrie tried to do in this production was capture the artificiality, with all of the principals wearing great masks, such as might be seen at great distances, from the back of the theatre of Dionysus. Masks don't change expression, and at times, the masks don't match the words, but that is the way the Greeks would see the play. Besides, the fixed masks continually remind us of the underlying sadness and doom of the play. He also had the actors deliver their lines in a rather sing-song fashion, which at times proves almost too much. Unfortunately, he did not have the chorus really move about the stage dancing during their choral odes, as they probably did when the play was performed in the Theater of Dionysus in Athens in the 5th c. BCE. Still, it is probably the best way to see what a Greek play must have been like for those who saw it in ancient Athens so long ago.

An attempt to film a Greek tragedy as the Greeks would have seen it, or at least somewhat so. It's intentions are noble, but it doesn't really have any ideas of its own. This is one dull film. The monotonous chanting might have worked for the ancient Athenians, but it cancels out the greatness of the play for modern viewers. Watching this version, Sophocles' play feels entirely irrelevant to us today. Even though I'm a classics scholar, I've always disliked adaptations of the tragedies – I feel that we could never really capture what they meant to their original audience, simply because we are so vastly different from them. Fortunately, on a very rare occasion, someone gets it right. Skip this and see Pasolini's 1967 version of the same play. On a side note, William Shatner, in his second feature film performance, plays one of the chorus members. You can't see him, however, on account of his mask.