ELECTRA (1962)

Some context from Greek mythology which is not spelled out clearly in this movie: Agamemnon was a Greek king who fought in the Trojan War, as presented in the Iliad. Leaving for Troy, he sacrificed his daughter Iphigenia to appease the gods, ensuring a safe voyage, which did not sit well with his wife Clytemnestra. As the movie begins, Agamemnon returns home victorious after some ten years, received by Clytemnestra and her lover Aegisthus who has become the de facto king of the land. In a bathhouse, Clytemnestra ensnares Agamemnon in a net and Aegisthus kills him with a sword. Though the king's two young children, Electra and Orestes, don't witness the murder, Electra has a premonition of doom. Time passes. So that neither child can be a threat to the queen, Orestes is sent away to wander the land, as Aegisthus is sure that on his own, he will not make trouble, and Electra is married off to a peasant farmer, an outcome seen as shameful by the people. But eventually, Orestes, encouraged by his friend Pylades, seeks out Electra and they commit, somewhat waveringly, to exact revenge on the king and queen. If you know anything about Greek tragedy, you know the outcome: there is death but the revenge rings a bit hollow.

This is the first of three films that Michael Cacoyannis made from the plays of Euripides (THE TROJAN WOMEN came a few years later), and if the narrative is bit murky at times, the film is gorgeous to look at, shot in widescreen black & white, mostly outside on Greek locations. The problem I had with THE TROJAN WOMEN, which was stagy acting in natural settings, is avoided here—the acting all around is quite good and though things may tip into the direction of the melodramatic at times (there are lots of close-ups), overall the humanity of the characters is served well by the actors. There is no mention of the gods here, so the psychological underpinnings of the story remain in the forefront. Irene Papas is often called the greatest Greek actress and based on the evidence here, I'd believe it. She is strong without being overpowering, emotional without going over-the-top. Giannis Fertis, as Orestes, can't match her in power, but he doesn't have to, as his story mostly serves as support to hers, and he's fine in his own right. Aleka Katselli (Clytemnestra) is also very good, and since one or another of the three is almost always on screen, we're in good acting hands. I especially like the way Cacoyannis uses the Greek chorus, a band of women dressed in black who circulate around Electra and occasionally comment on the action. They are choreographed beautifully at all times. This 1960s foreign language (Greek) film has suffered from neglect, probably because the sexiness and glamor of the era are absent, but I would recommend this wholeheartedly, in particular as an example of how to open up a stage play. Pictured are Papas and Katselli. [DVD]