Edipo re (1967/I)

Director:

Pier Paolo Pasolini

Writers:

Sophocles (play)
Pier Paolo Pasolini (writer)

Release Date:

7 September 1967 (Italy)

Genre:

Drama

Plot:

In pre-war Italy, a young couple have a baby boy. The father, however, is jealous of his son - and the scene moves to antiquity...

Plot Keywords:

King | Anachronistic | Sophocles | Breast Suckling | Queen

Awards:

3 wins & 1 nomination

Cast

Silvana Mangano	...	Jocasta
Franco Citti	...	Oedipus
Alida Valli	...	Merope
Carmelo Bene	...	Creon
Julian Beck	...	Tiresias
Luciano Bartoli	...	Laius
Francesco Leonetti	...	Laius' Servant
Ahmed Belhachmi	...	Polybus
Giovanni Ivan Scratuglia	...	Priest (as Ivan Scratuglia)
Giandomenico Davoli	...	Shepherd
Ninetto Davoli	...	Angelo the Messenger

Also Known As:

Oedipus Rex (USA)

Runtime:

104 min

Country:

Italy | Morocco

Language:

Italian

Color:

Color (Technicolor)

Aspect Ratio:

1.85 : 1

Sound Mix:

Mono

Certification:

Canada:14+ (Ontario) | Spain:13 | Argentina:16 | Finland:K-16 | UK:15 (video rating) (1990) | UK:X (original rating)

Filming Locations:

Basilica of San Petronio, Bologna, Emilia-Romagna, Italy

Company:

Arco Film

Trivia:

First part of Pier Paolo Pasolini's "Mythical Cycle" also including Teorema (1968), Porcile (1969) and Medea (1969).

Movie Connections:

Featured in Wie de Waarheid Zegt Moet Dood (1981)

Excellent Film as Art

This film is possibly the most brilliant - color - film AS ART that I I have ever seen. It combines beautiful and fascinating poetic color visuals, unusual landscapes and locations with the classic story of Oedipus.

The story is told with very little dialog, (subtitles for the dialog where present) and this enhances the internal, primal feeling of the piece. Pasolini was often compared to Fellini, but I feel he is much better, because he uses his visuals always to advance and to the purpose of the story. To me Fellini's visuals were often purposeless antic oddity. Here, any ambiguity is not in the story, but in character motivation, which lends modern reality and immediacy to the whole.

The acting style combines the classic Greek use of stylized mannerisms and mask work seamlessly with smaller modern film acting. The setting transitions from 1960s Italy to a primitive/tribal landscape which lends itself beautifully to the timeless/ancient feeling of the Greek story. An example of detail: tribal body painting is used to represent both a ritual queen in shades of Elizabeth R, to the whiteness of a plague death; the costume designs are a combination of rustic and Egyptian/Papal religious.

Cast mainly with little known actors, the big name actor in this film was international star Alida Valli, who has only two or three brief scenes. Her talent is fairly wasted here, but her presence is riveting as the aging, childless queen. (Valli: A brilliant Italian actress who had a brief career here in the 40s-50s, then returned to Italy/Europe, and balanced her commercial work in slashers with more oddball artistically challenging work. Her work often embodies "excess within control," the dichotomy of superficial clam with seething internal emotion. PARADINE CASE, THE THIRD MAN, THE MIRACLE OF THE BELLS, CASSANDRA CROSSING, EYES WITHOUT A FACE, SENSO, WALK SOFTLY STRANGER.) This film is the kind of work I would hope to be a part of as an actress and artist. This film could easily be in theatres today and be even more appreciated now than it was at the time of its making.

Theatrically literate, visually stunning, gutsy, and intelligent. Enjoy!