Iphigenia (film)

Infobox Film

name = Iphigenia


image_size = 144px
director = Michael Cacoyannis
producer = Michael Cacoyannis
writer = Michael Cacoyannis
Euripedes
editing = Takis Yanopoulos
music = Mikis Theodorakis
cinematography = Giorgos Arvanitis
runtime = 127 Min
language = Greek
imdb_id = 0076208

"Iphigenia" is a 1977 Greek film directed by Michael Cacoyannis, based on the Greek myth of Iphigenia, the daughter of Agamemnon and Clytemnestra who was ordered by the goddess Artemis to be sacrificed. Cacoyannis adapted the film, the third in his "Greek tragedy" trilogy (after the released of "Electra" in 1962 and "The Trojan Women" in 1971), from his stage production of Euripides' play "Iphigenia at Aulis". The film stars Tatiana Papamoschou as Iphigenia, Kostas Kazakos as Agamemnon, and the legendary actress Irene Papas as Clytemnestra. The score was composed by Mikis Theodorakis.

"Iphigenia" was nominated for one Oscar, Best Foreign Language Film. It was also nominated for the Palme d'Or at the Cannes Film Festival. "Iphigenia" received the 1978 Belgian Femina Award, and received the Best Film Award at the 1977 Thessaloniki Film Festival, where Tatiania Papamoschou also received the Best Leading Actress Award for her role as Iphigenia.

Cast

* Tatiana Papamoschou as Iphigenia
* Irene Papas as Clytemnestra
* Kostas Kazakos as Agamemnon
* Costas Carras as Menelaus
* Christos Tsagas as Odysseus
* Panos Mihalopoulos as Achilles
* Dimitri Aronis as Calchas

Divergences from the original play

Cacoyannis made a number of changes to "Iphigenia at Aulis" in order to adapt it to modern cinema, some of them significant divergences from the original plot. Cacoyannis does away with the traditional Greek tragic chorus, originally employed to explain key scenes, and replaces it in some cases with a chorus of Greek soldiers. He also adds new characters who were not present, but who were mentioned, in the original play, Odysseus and Calchas, to further the plot and voice certain themes.

As in Euripides' original work, Cacoyannis deliberately renders the end of the story ambiguous. Though Greek myth states that Iphigenia was miraculously saved by the gods at the very instant of her death, this event is not directly depicted in either the play or the film, leaving Iphigenia's true fate in question. In Euripides' "Iphigenia at Aulis", Iphigenia's rescue is described second-hand by a messenger. In "Iphigenia", there is no overt reference at all to this event; the audience sees only the knife fall, followed by a shot of Agamemnon's shocked expression.

ee also

* Iphigeneia
* Iphigeneia at Aulis
* Iphigeneia in Tauris