Medea (1969)

Director:

Pier Paolo Pasolini

Writers:

Euripides (play)
Pier Paolo Pasolini (writer)

Release Date:

11 February 1972 (Finland)

Genre:

Drama

Plot:

To win the kingdom his uncle took from his father, Jason must steal the golden fleece from the land of barbarians...

Plot Keywords:

Child Murder | Quartering | Adultery | Ancient Greece | Child Sacrifice

Cast

Maria Callas	...	Medea
Massimo Girotti	...	King Kresus / Creonte
Laurent Terzieff	...	Centaur
Giuseppe Gentile	...	Jason
Margareth Clémenti	...	Glauce (as Margareth Clementi)
Paul Jabara	...	Pelias
Gerard Weiss	...	Second centaur
Sergio Tramonti	...	Apsirto, Medea's brother
Luigi Barbini	...	Argonaut
Gian Paolo Durgar		(as Gianpaolo Duregon)
Luigi Masironi
Michelangelo Masironi
Gianni Bradizi
Franco Jacobbi
Annamaria Chio	...	Wet-nurse (as Anna Maria Chio)

Also Known As:

Medée (France)
Medea (USA)
Visioni della Medea (Italy) (working title)

Runtime:

118 min | Spain:107 min

Country:

Italy | West Germany | France

Language:

Italian

Color:

Color (Eastmancolor)

Aspect Ratio:

1.85 : 1

Sound Mix:

Mono

Certification:

Australia:M | Belgium:KNT | Spain:13 | Argentina:16 | Finland:K-12 | UK:PG (video rating) (1990) | UK:AA (original rating)

Filming Locations:

Turkey

Company:

San Marco

Trivia:

According to Richard Burton's diaries, Maria Callas very much wanted him to play Jason. Callas was despondent after her long-time lover, shipping tycoon Aristotle Onassis, had dumped her for Jacqueline Kennedy, and while Burton was sympathetic, he declined the role, thinking it "thankless".

Movie Connections:

Referenced in Wie de Waarheid Zegt Moet Dood (1981)

'Hard' Pasolini film for few. Bold visuals & soundtrack, little text

There are several directors that make "arty" films that are certainly not for everyone. Pasolini has also done films which can be more easily acceptable by wider audiences; yet this is not one of them. This is one of those films that can and will be liked by only a few people. Others will turn their head the other way or simply hate it...

Well I like weird art & films, I like Pasolini, and I liked Medea in various interesting aspects. I suppose one should at least know the basics of Euripedes story to comprehend the story - Pasolini doesn't focus in the story so much, important facts are assumed by the viewer and the dialogues are scarce within the film. No narration exists.

I think Pasolini here was more interested in presenting the cultural / ethnological / theological / religious stigma of the era - his usual interest on god and religion is also here, despite text is given few opportunities to breed context in this film. We have also the theme of ancient world VS the new world of logic and the new gods. This is one of the films, like, say, Hertzog's films, that are up to the viewer to comprehend, or a film critics would call a symbolic one. Needless to say one has to like to think while watching this one, not be spoon-fed.

Last but not least, the soundtrack enhances this strongly visual experience a lot. A set of strange but intense folk/ethnic/avant guard/experimental songs make the viewing a unique experience for those who like 'hard' films....