Verdict
Summary
A downbeat Greek tragedy with a well-mounted scale and authenticity that makes it a worthwhile experience, Michael Cacoyannis’ Iphigenia feels mythic without having any overt supernatural elements, and while it sort of feels like a play or a very contained drama, the film manages to carry weight and an expansiveness that is timeless. The performances (by an entirely Greek cast, so kudos) are uniformly excellent, and the sadness of it all plays hard to an audience that should appreciate its intent.
Plot:
The king of Greece must make a decision: Sacrifice his beloved daughter for Greece, or turn his back on his people to save his daughter.
Review:
After a grueling campaign of war against Troy, King Agamemnon (Kostas Kazakos) and over a thousand of his soldiers are stranded on an island, with no wind to carry their ships home, and so they use the time off to go hunting for meat, and during the hunt Agamemnon himself shoots a deer that he never could have known is a sacred stag, a prize of the gods. Within a few hours, his oracle declares that he has offended the gods and that the only way his men can return home to their families and to bring the wind back is to sacrifice his beloved daughter Iphigenia (Tatiana Papamoschou) as an offering to appease the gods and make amends for his great offense. Crushed to his very soul at this, Agamemnon sends for his daughter under the guise of marrying her off to his prized warrior Achilles (Panos Mihalopoulos) who has no idea that he’s being used a pawn in this deception, and when the king’s wife Clytemnestra (Irene Papas) gets word, she is overjoyed and brings an entire wedding party to the coast where her husband has been waiting months without movement. Annoyed that his wife and an entire entourage has arrived and that his secret shame is now exposed (because there will be no wedding, and instead be a sacrifice), Agamemnon must face his wife and daughter and deal with the consequences of his decision. With thousands of his homesick soldiers demanding the sacrifice, the king must face his dear daughter and force her to do the unthinkable … for the good of Greece.
A downbeat Greek tragedy with a well-mounted scale and authenticity that makes it a worthwhile experience, Michael Cacoyannis’ Iphigenia feels mythic without having any overt supernatural elements, and while it sort of feels like a play or a very contained drama, the film manages to carry weight and an expansiveness that is timeless. The performances (by an entirely Greek cast, so kudos) are uniformly excellent, and the sadness of it all plays hard to an audience that should appreciate its intent.
Radiance Films brings Iphigenia to Blu-ray in a beautiful high definition transfer, and the disc comes with archival interviews, a booklet, a reversible sleeve, and a new interview with a Greek film scholar.
