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Electra (1962 film)

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Electra
Directed byMichael Cacoyannis
Written byMichael Cacoyannis
Based onElectra
413 B.C.
by Euripides
Produced byMichael Cacoyannis
StarringIrene Papas
Giannis Fertis
Aleka Katselli
Manos Katrakis
Notis Peryalis
Fivos Razi
Takis Emmanuel
Theano Ioannidou
Malaina Anousaki
Theodoros Dimitriou
Theodore Demetriou
Elsie Pittas
Petros Ampelas
Kitty Arseni
Thodoros Exarhos
Elli Fotiou
Afroditi Grigoriadou
Kostas Kazakos
CinematographyWalter Lassally
Edited byLeonidas Antonakis
Music byMikis Theodorakis
Production
company
Finos Film
Distributed byLopert Pictures Corporation (USA), United Artists (internationally [Finland, Denmark, Sweden, Argentina, Mexico])
Release date
  • 1962 (1962)
Running time
110 minutes
CountryGreece
LanguageGreek

Electra (Greek: Ηλέκτρα Ilektra) is a 1962 Greek film based on the play Electra, written by Euripides. It was directed by Michael Cacoyannis, serving as the first installment of his "Greek tragedy" trilogy, followed by The Trojan Women in 1971 and Iphigenia in 1977. The film starred Irene Papas in the lead role as Elektra and Giannis Fertis as Orestis.

Plot

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King Agamemnon is murdered by his wife Clytemnestra and her lover, Agamemnon's cousin and childhood playmate, Aegisthus. Of Agamemnon and Clytemnestra's children, Orestes goes into exile for safety, while Electra is confined to the palace for some years and then forced to marry a peasant to disgrace her and any children.

Some years later, Electra seeks revenge with the help of her brother Orestes and their cousin Pylades. Orestes and Pylades attend a festival to Bacchus hosted by Aegisthus. When Aegisthus challenges Orestes to a mock knife fight, Orestes uses the opportunity to kill him. Electra invites Clytemnestra to her house under false pretenses. Despite Clytemnestra explaining her reasons for killing her husband and apologising for her actions towards Electra, Electra enables Orestes to stab Clytemnestra to death. In the end, the siblings feel remorseful and realise that they will be social outcasts for their actions. They depart in different directions.

Cast

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Awards

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The film was entered into the 1962 Cannes Film Festival where it won the award of Best Cinematic Transposition.[1] The film was also nominated for the Academy Award for Best Foreign Language Film.[2] The film also won three awards in Thessaloniki Film Festival, for best film and best director (Michalis Cacoyannis) and best actress (Irene Papas).[3]

DVD

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Electra was released on DVD by MGM Home Entertainment on March 5, 2002 as a Region 1 DVD.

See also

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References

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  1. ^ "Festival de Cannes: Electra". festival-cannes.com. Archived from the original on 2012-01-18. Retrieved 2009-02-22.
  2. ^ "The 35th Academy Awards (1963) Nominees and Winners". oscars.org. Retrieved 2011-11-01.
  3. ^ "awards 1962". Thessaloniki Film Festival. Archived from the original on 29 September 2015. Retrieved 20 August 2015.
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