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| Images courtesy of Radiance Films |
Greek Cypriot writer-director Michael Cacoyannis already
formed an oeuvre within the Greek film industry well before his 1964 stateside
arrival with the bilingual Oscar nominated epic comedy Zorba the Greek. Having produced a number of Greek language
WWII programs before pursuing a stage acting career at The Old Vic, Cacoyannis
directed seven films including the Oscar nominated Electra and up until
1974 he made three more bilingual Greek-English films including The Day the
Fish Came Out and The Trojan Women.
Typically working in the costumed period drama subgenre, Cacoyannis frequently
dealt in the Greek Tragedy subgenre beginning with Electra in 1962,
continuing with the second installment The Trojan Women in 1971 before
making a fully fledged return to solely Greek language cinema with the 1977
Palme d’Or nominee Iphigenia.
Made in the aftermath of his wartime Attilas ‘74 documentary
chronicling the Turkish invasion of Cyprus, Iphigenia represents a
marked return to moody yet elegant and ethereal dramatic period filmmaking. Based on the Greek myth of Iphigenia
by Euripides with subtle changes made by Cacoyannis while remaining faithful to
the essence of the text, the mystical and emotionally involving period piece
originally came out on Blu-ray disc via Olive Films in 2016. While that edition wasn’t bad, it was pricey
considering the absence of special features and generic packaging. Considering the pedigree of the piece and
following a new distribution deal with Amazon MGM Studios, it was only a matter
of time before the rights to Iphigenia would be snatched back up by
Radiance Films who have assembled an ornate deluxe limited edition Blu-ray set
featuring a new yet unrestored print scan replete with deficiencies and cigarette
burns. The finished result of this
magnificent film reminds of The Criterion Collection’s laserdisc of Monty Python
and the Holy Grail which also was an unrestored print scan giving viewers a
faithful uncompromised representation of the original image as it likely
appeared in theaters.
Following the killing of a sacred deer (Yorgos Lanthimos?)
with golden horns, the bearded and brawny Agamemnon (Kostas Kazakos) the King
of Argos is ordered by the rule of the Gods to atone for his transgression. On the cusp of the Trojan War, the Gods
declare he must offer a ritualistic sacrifice after defiling Holy ground in
order to guarantee his armies’ safe passage to Troy. The problem is the Gods make a hefty demand
in the form of Agamemnon’s beautiful and innocent first-born daughter Iphigenia
(Tatiana Papamoschou in her screen debut).
Desperately trying to hide his burning grief from his wife Clytemnestra
(a powerful and passionate Irene Papas) while word trickles through the armies
ready to go to battle and fuels their own bloodthirst for destroying Iphigenia
begins to spiral out of control.
Eventually word makes its way back to Iphigenia herself who finds
herself in a Christ-like position of offering up her life to achieve a kind of
salvation for her people and perhaps to face this unthinkable horror on her own
terms.
Shifting between the epic swords-and-sandals swashbuckler to
a tranquil Eden-like world of innocence lived in by Iphigenia and her siblings,
Iphigenia is a Greek tragedy fantasy folklore epic that doesn’t make
sense of the mythology by Euripides so much as it tries to locate the emotional
center of the text. Initially gazing
through Giorgos Arvanitis’ luminous and tactile cinematography presented
unrestored in 1.66:1 and aided by an increasingly somber score by Mikis
Theodorakis, aspects of the film from a visual front and a costume/production
design end seem to forecast the soft foggy patina of what would or wouldn’t
become John Boorman’s Excalibur.
A curious division involves the scruffy, sweaty and bloodied man’s world
ready for war and the clean and tranquil existence of the women who are
tragically forced to pay for man’s misdeeds.
The play itself, a classical Greek tragedy, is given new
emotional weathers by writer-director Michael Cacoyannis and his central three
cast members Irene Papas, Kostas Kazakos and especially Tatiana Papamoschou as
the titular Iphigenia. Though
featuring many extras portraying vast armies of brutes and grunts, the film
more or less boils down to these few principal characters. Watching Irene Papas and Kostas Kazakos spar
over the terrible information regarding their daughter’s fate with Kazakos just
barely holding back tears, I was reminded of Darren Aronofsky’s Noah which
had to have lifted from the tense exchanges both parent characters have
here. Tatiana Papamoschou at the time
was a newcomer and her performance here as the child sacrifice most certainly
stokes the kind of unspoken emotional fire and passion burning through Renee
Jeanne Falconetti’s timeless performance in The Passion of Joan of Arc.
Coming to Radiance Films on Blu-ray disc in a new special
edition featuring a new interview with Dimitris Papakinolaou, archival
interviews, reversible sleeve art with the time-honored OBI spine and a
collectible booklet featuring essay writing by Vrasidas Karalis, Iphigenia is
an elegantly constructed and even more eloquently executed masterwork of Greek
cinema. Coming off of the boutique label’s
recent release of The Ogre of Athens, another undiscovered gem of Greek
tragic cinema, Iphigenia for fans of Cacoyannis already familiar with
the film as well as newcomers is a surefire home run! A taut and still affecting masterwork that
again doesn’t try to explain away the mythology so much as it tries to convey
the emotional gravity and weight of such a situation, Radiance Films once again
have unveiled a unique and wholly original title to their growing library that
continues to give the folks at Arrow Video and The Criterion Collection a run
for their money.
--Andrew Kotwicki
