Sophocles Movies
- 1981
This release contains a 1981 film of the Vienna State Opera's performance of Richard Strauss's 1909 opera, Elektra. Astrid Varnay plays the eponymous title character, the daughter of Clytemnestra (Leonie Rysanek). When Clytemnestramurders her husband Agamemnon (Rolf Boysen), with the conspiration of her lover, Aegistheus (Hans Beirer), and Elektra learns of it, hell hath no fury. For this production, the late Karl Bohm - Strauss's protégé - conducts, while Gotz Friedrich directs the stage production itself, dramatically evoking and emphasizing the expressionist set design inherent in Strauss's original conception. ~ Nathan Southern, Rovi
- Starring:
- Leonie Rysanek, Caterina Ligendza, (more)
- 1968
- G
The classic Greek tragedy by Sophocles stars Christopher Plummer as the psychologically tortured Oedipus. The successful monarch begins his downward slide after he discovers he has murdered his father and had children with his own mother. Oedipus is called on to avenge the death of the previous ruler, but his mother Jocasta (Lilli Palmer) hangs herself in the process. The tormented king tears out his own eyes and wanders the land as a destitute, disabled pauper. Orson Welles plays the insightful but sightless prophet Tiresias. The chorus, key to all Greek classical plays, is lead by Donald Sutherland. Roger Livesy is the shepherd who has raised the boy who would be king. ~ Dan Pavlides, Rovi
- Starring:
- Christopher Plummer, Orson Welles, (more)
This updated version of the Greek tragedy from Sophocles bears some slight resemblance to the original mythology. Edipo (Franco Citti) is abandoned by his father after the father receives an oracle telling him he will die at the hands of his own son. Raised by a childless couple, Edipo goes through a series of adventures before he marries his own mother. When they discover they are mother and son, Edipo blinds himself and his mother commits suicide. It's enough to give the audience a complex. ~ Dan Pavlides, Rovi
- Starring:
- Silvana Mangano, Franco Citti, (more)
- 1962
Both Sophocles and Euripides wrote tragedies around the tale of Electra, the daughter of Clytemnestra who ultimately commits matricide with the collusion of her brother, Orestes. This is a filmed stage play of the Sophocles version of the story, and although director Ted Zarpas does not try to change the stage performance in any way, it is good enough on its own to carry the 115-minute drama. Electra and Orestes both know their mother and her lover killed their father, Agememnon, but since they were children at the time they could do nothing about it. Orestes leaves home and Electra stays, burning for the day she can avenge Agememnon's death, the day her brother returns. In addition to this well-known story, some introduction to the theater that housed the performance is given at the beginning of the film, as well as a brief explanation about the nature of Greek tragedies. ~ Eleanor Mannikka, Rovi
Oedipus Rex looks just like what it was: a photographed stage play. Any cinematic deficiencies are, however, quickly forgotten as the "magic" of the Sophocles tragedy (translated by William Butler Yeats) takes hold. Staged by Sir Tyrone Guthrie at the Stratford (Ontario) Shakespeare festival, the film spotlights such formidable Canadian-based talents as Douglas Campbell (Oedipus Rex) and Douglas Rain (Messenger). The story, of course, concerns Oedipus' detective work in locating the murderer of his father, and his nonplused (to say the least) reaction when he discovers that, not only is hehimself the guilty party, but his wife Jocasta is actually his own mother. When Douglas Rain comes on screen, see if you can pin down his voice. That's right: Rain was the dispassionate voice of homicidal computer Hal 9000 in Kubrick's 2001: A Space Odyssey (Douglas Campbell was later in the McKenzie Brothers' slapstick comedy Strange Brew, but that's hardly in the same category as 2001). ~ Hal Erickson, Rovi
- Starring:
- Douglas Rain, Douglas Campbell, (more)
Rating Systems
Blockbuster
BLOCKBUSTER name, design and related marks are trademarks of Blockbuster L.L.C.
2013 Blockbuster L.L.C. All rights reserved.
Portions of Content Provided by Rovi Corporation. 2013 Rovi Corporation.