Electra (1962)

When Agamemnon (Theodoros Dimitriou) returns home from the Trojan Wars, he is murdered in his bath by his wife (Aleka Katselli) and her lover (Fivos Razi). The son (Giannis Fertis) and daughter (Irene Papas) of Agamemnon are exiled but both are determined to wreak vengeance on their mother and her lover for the killing of their father. Based on the Greek tragedy by Euripides, the director Michael Cacoyannis manages to turn Euripides' great play into a fluid film. Greek tragedy is very difficult to translate to cinema since even stage productions are very often unimaginatively staged with the burden of the piece placed on the actors' ability to convey the power of Euripides' words to the audience. Cacoyannis, ably assisted by Walter Lassally's (TOM JONES) stark B&W camera work, sets his ELECTRA outdoors in the desolate Greek countryside which, not unlike the traditional Greek amphitheaters, frees the play from proscenium effect of so many plays turned movies. The Greek chorus is there but their lines are spoken individually rather than as a unit which comes off as more natural though their movements are intentionally theatrical. Papas is, of course, the linchpin of the film and she's magnificent. The score is by Mikis Theodorakis.