Oedipus Rex (1957)

Starring:William Hutt, William Shatner, Robert Goodier, Roland Hewgill, David Gardner, Grant Reddick, Naomi Cameron, Eleanor Stuart, Roland Bull, Eric House, Tony Van Bridge, Donald Davis (II), Douglas Rain, Bruce Swerdfager, Louis Negin, Barbara Franklin (II), Neil Vipond, Robert Christie, Richard Howard (VII), Douglas Campbell
Director: Abraham Polonsky, Tyrone Guthrie
Studio: Image Entertainment
Product Type: DVD

Description

Filmed by the famed British actor/director Sir Tyrone Guthrie, this elegant version of Sophocles' important play adds a brilliant stroke--the actors wear masks just as the Greeks did in the playwright's day. The story of Oedipus' gradual discovery of his primal crime--killing his father and marrying his mother--has influenced many of the great plays, films and books of all time. When this landmark film production of one of the great dramas ever appeared, it was hailed from all corners: "Spectacular and awesome...this film is a jewel of great price!" raved The New York Times.

Customer Reviews:

A new old performance of a Sophoclean master piece........2007-05-13

This is an excellent movie, highly recomended, more so for people who are interested in greek theatre as well as Shakespearen theatre. An original interpretation of Sophocles' work which still perserves the tradition on the classical antiquity of using masks and the dramatism of Shakespearen theatre. It would be even better if subtitles where included in other languages for the people who speak no English. However the English actors' is flawless.

"...the seer can indeed see".......2004-08-03

This is a 1957 recording of the stage production of Sophocles' Oedipus Rex. It is performed with minimal props and some smoke. As the custom of ancient Greece the players ware masks. The masks are larger than life and do not covers the whole face allowing for some expression and clarity. Coordinating with the masks are certain colored robes; there is a gold mask for the king, silver mask for the queen, a white mask for the seer, corresponding colors for major players and the chorus.

The play is the story told over two thousand years ago of the destruction of one man so that his people might live. Oedipus will gradually discover that he fulfilled the prophecy and crime of killing his father and marrying his mother. The actual wording of the play may vary from the written version.

Now after the introduction and background, watch as the citizens approach and see the unfolding the of this tragedy.

Reading "Oedipus and Akhnaton" by Immanuel Velikovsky may shine a different light on this play.

Sir Tyrone Guthrie's famous production of "Oedipus Rex".......2003-05-04

This version of "Oedipus Rex" is Sir Tyrone Guthrie's famous 1957 production, which had the actors wearing masks just as the ancient Greeks did when first performing this classic tragedy by Sophocles. The masks, designed by Tanya Moisewitsch and Jacqueline Cundall, are slightly oversized and quite stylized: Oedipus (Douglas Campbell) wears a gold mask with a crown atop and a golden cloak; blind Tiresias (Donald Davis) appears entirely in white; each of the members of the chorus has a distinctive mask as one of the old men of Thebes. As befits the masks and costumes, there is a stylized formality to the acting. No one would argue that this is how the play was first performed in ancient Athens but it does suggest the general approach to Greek tragedy.

The story is well known to most audience, but attention should still be paid because the key to the Sophocles version of the tale is that the prophecy from Delphi that was told to the king and queen of Thebes is not the same that was told to Oedipus years later. A plague has come to Thebes and Creon (Douglas Rain) has returned from Delphi with word from Apollo. Creon is the brother to Jocasta (Eleanor Stuart), wife of Oedipus the king as she had been the wife of king Laius before him. He reports that the gods are angry that the murderer of Laius has not been brought to justice. Oedipus vows to do so and utters a curse upon the unknown killer. But when Oedipus demands that Tiresias reveal the identity of the killer, the blind prophet of Thebes says the king is the very man he seeks. Thus the primal crime of the man who killed his father and married his mother is reveal step by tragic step.

The English translation is by the poet William Butler Yeats, which provides its own touch of the classical for the language of the play, which has been cut down to 90 minutes for this filmed version (which is essentially of the stage production); there is also so additional dialogue, primarily an introduction by the Chorus that provides an introduction to Oedipus as the hero who bested the Sphinx and saved Thebes. There is also an introduction by an actor before the play that explains the basic idea of Greek tragedy and also draws a connection between the story of Oedipus and the Christian sacrament of communion. I like a more naturalistic approach, even with Greek tragedies, but there is something compelling about this particular production. Because this is a streamlined version of "Oedipus Rex," viewers will get a good idea of the basic structure of a Greek play, and at 90-minutes in length you can show the film in two standard class periods.

Customer Reviews:

At a loss for words.......2007-05-31

Not much to say...I'm simply stunned and speechless, in agreement with the most extreme of all you enthusiasts. I just found this DVD up here in the Mexican High Sierra, and I can hardly express my delight with it. I'm in the classical music world, and really know what a valuable thing Julie Taynor has done for every creative soul: from Sophocles, Cocteau, e.e.cummings and Stravinsky, to all the people she's inspired in the concept of this "oratorio". As Jessye Norman says; she felt she was co-creating with Taynor, something that brought out the best in her. Already a goddess, that's saying something.
The DVD production is A-1, and as Julie and Jessye suggest: turn off the subtitles (you know the story) and just let the magic - the dancing, the sets, the costumes, the acting, and above all Stravinsky's powerful music, transport you back to a time when human beings were the playthings of the gods, and when the rational mind had not yet destroyed our imaginative capacities.

Buy this production NOW before it disappears. You just never know.

simply superb!.......2006-12-24

Gifted director/designer Julie Taymor apparently secures one amazing success after another, and this arresting production is surely one of her supreme creations! Adapting the conventions of the seventeenth-century opera-oratorio, Stravinsky's 1927 score marks the beginning of his neoclassical period, with absolute command of both orchestral writing and dramatic intensity. It's interesting that Stravinsky's stated reason for choosing Latin for the score's libretto - '(it) had the great advantage of giving me a medium not dead but turned to stone, and so monumentalised as to have become immune from any risk of vulgarisation' - is precisely that offered by the Roman Church as the reason for her codification of Latin as its liturgical language (before the desacralisation of the Roman liturgy by neo-modernist barbarians). In fact, Cocteau's libretto was translated from French to Latin by the Jesuit (later Cardinal) Jean Danielou. The impersonality of the text/poem itself has the adroit effect of freezing dramatic consequence to the point of white heat, intuitively heightening the entire drama, something Stravinsky no doubt foresaw and is, interestingly, the key facet out of which Taymor vividly draws unerring pathos. The design of this production is like nothing else! That being said, the singing is magnificent - Jessye Norman, Philip Landridge and Bryn Terfel all in rare and perfect form, Norman especially, with her leonine face and voice delivers a riveting Jocasta in the performance of a career, something all the more shocking given the princely Impersonal so deliberately embedded by Stravinsky in the score itself. Norman and Ozawa have often worked together to wonderful effect (their recording of Carmen comes to mind), and the elucidation of detail he draws from the Saito Kinen Orchestra is astonishing at every turn. This is a piece impossible to completely absorb in one read through, but repeated viewings easily yield its greatness, and the DVD bonus extras are a vital part of reaping every ounce of the greatness of this superb production. Highest recommendation.

The Very Best!.......2006-06-17

This is the best production of ANYTHING I have ever seen.
I could go on and on about this but I'd run out of superlatives in no time at all.
We've waited a long time for this to become available. I'm glad it's here at last.

Absolutely brilliant........2005-10-31

Oedipus Rex is probably my favorite of Stravinsky's works (which is obviously saying a lot), and Julie Taymor's production enriches the opera in every conceivable way. On one hand, it may not be totally true to the distance and austerity Stravinsky originally had in mind, but Taymor strikes a perfect balance with her reserved yet extremely artistic staging. She draws emotion from the work that is obviously present, no matter what Stravinsky may have maintained!

The cast is great, Ozawa and the musicians interpret the music well...I could go on and on. Thank goodness they finally released this on DVD...I'm replacing my bootleg VHS version!

The Best in Opera.......2005-10-13

Frankly, I have never seen a more riveting opera. It's so wonderful and full of symbolism and imagery that will blow your mind! Julie Taymor's design and ingenuity truly rules the stage.

Also, if the imagery is a bit unclear after you watch it, the part in JULIE TAYMOR: PLAYING WITH FIRE about this opera is a good tool. It will explain everything and make it all the richer.

PS It's also quite short-only about 57 minutes, so anyone over age 12 will be able to enjoy it. (any younger than that, they may not be able to appreciate all the imagery)

Average customer rating:

Greek tragedy or Italian saga?
Film As Art - 10 stars
Yet another mediocre transfer from Waterbearer
Yet another mediocre transfer from Waterbearer
Opulent, riveting, strangely autobiographical OEDIPUS REX

Oedipus Rex
Starring: Luciano Bartoli , Julian Beck , Franco Citti , Ninetto Davoli , and Francesco Leonetti
Director: Pier Paolo Pasolini
Manufacturer: Water Bearer Films, Inc
ProductGroup: DVD
Binding: DVD

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ASIN: B00008DDUF
Release Date: 2003-03-14

Customer Reviews:

Greek tragedy or Italian saga?.......2007-03-12

Pasolini's Oedipus Rex is not a movie to be taken lightly. It is definitely intended more as a discussion centerpiece than an actual beacon of entertainment. The story is told in a symbolistic manner, however, leaves a little too much lee-way in the sense of captivating general audiences. It's a hard movie to get engaged with, however majestically intended it may be.

Film As Art - 10 stars.......2006-11-30

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!

Yet another mediocre transfer from Waterbearer.......2003-05-22

Of the three Pasolini DVD's recently released by Waterbearer, Oedipus Rex is probably the best not only in its transfer, but in the film itself.

That being said, the transfer is still far from great. The matting is off, although nowhere near as badly as it is on Porcile. The colors are faded and the film is pitted and scratched, but again, nowhere as badly as on the Porcile disc. My main complaint is (as it was with Love Meetings) that the burned-in (not optional) subtitles are white, and are impossible to read in many parts of the washed-out transfer.

That being said, this is one of Pasolini's strongest films, and is definitely worth watching, whether you're a cinephile, a Pasolini fan, or a classical scholar. Casual viewers may be put off by Pasolini's style which, admittedly, is an acquired taste, but more open-minded viewers will be greatly rewarded. Again, it's doubtful that these films will see better editions any time soon, so if you're interested, there's no reason to wait around.

Yet another mediocre transfer from Waterbearer.......2003-05-22

Of the three Pasolini DVD's recently released by Waterbearer, Oedipus Rex is probably the best not only in its transfer, but in the film itself.

Opulent, riveting, strangely autobiographical OEDIPUS REX.......2003-05-15

Oedipus Rex (1967) is Pasolini's opulent and riveting adaptation of the ancient myth of Oedipus, a man who unknowingly kills his father and marries his mother; simultaneously, it is a provocative reflection of the filmmaker himself. Although Sophocles' 2,500-year-old play forms the basis for the film's second half, Pasolini's prologue is startlingly autobiographical. He opens in early 20th century Fascist Italy, while using the myth's characters to recreate his parents' relationship and his own birth. He then takes us to a mythic ancient world, filmed primarily in Morocco, with vast desert landscapes and stunning native architecture (Thebes is a massive city made of adobe, which feels genuinely ancient and real). Pasolini brings a grandeur and epic sweep to his Oedipus Rex, despite its limited budget, even as he gives full weight to the intimate moments.

The film draws great power comes from the completely naturalistic performances, ranging from the leads to the minor characters (Pasolini plays a High Priest). Silvana Mangano (Mrs. Dino De Laurentiis) is outstanding as Jocasta, Oedipus's enigmatic mother/wife. Her stone-like face suggests intense erotic heat with the microscopic wrinkling of a lip. My major reservation with the film is Franco Citti as Oedipus. He appeared in seven films for Pasolini (including the title role in Accatone), and was usually exceptional, but here he brings a too-consistent harsh tone to his role. Of course, Citti's monolithic resolve, as both Oedipus the boy (who cheats to win a discus match) and king, may be Pasolini's point. Namely, since Oedipus refuses to grow, to come to an integrated understanding of who he is and what his society needs him to be, he destroys himself by willful blindness.

Visually, Oedipus Rex draws enormous force from its vivid palette and use of the harsh Moroccan sunlight, not to mention its breathtaking, sometimes outrageous sense of style. Yet the literal clarity of the film does not obscure its dreamlike qualities. Pasolini wanted to film the myth as something which takes place in an authentic setting, yet which unfolds in a period outside of historical time. Even the eclectically multicultural soundtrack, with folk music from traditions as startlingly diverse as Japan and Rumania (and this was twenty years before the popularity of "world music"), helps achieve Pasolini's ambitious goal.

Intriguingly, the real protagonist of the film is Pasolini himself, who subtextually takes on Freud's (in)famous Oedipus Complex. As he said, "I wanted to make ... a kind of completely metaphoric - and therefore mythicized - autobiography; and ... to confront both the problems of psycho-analysis and the problem of the myth." (In the half hour documentary on Pasolini included on the DVD, one illuminating section is devoted to his views on Oedipus Rex.)

Revisionist Freudianism aside, this film succeeds in bringing both Oedipus and his world astonishingly to life. This Oedipus Rex is engrossing because it works simultaneously on so many different levels. For people new to Pasolini, this representative film is an excellent place to begin. In terms of its impact on film history, you can see its influence on pictures as diverse as Fellini Satyricon (1969), Norman Jewison's Jesus Christ Superstar (1973), and Martin Scorsese's The Last Temptation of Christ (1988). It shows Pasolini grappling with some of the knottiest themes of his films, and of most people's lives, namely the relationship of men and women, of child and parents, and of one man to himself. And it is at once a work of outrageous design and deep feeling, a semi-camp epic with genuine mythic resonance.

Customer Reviews:

Great is all you have to say!!!.......2007-03-13

This is one of Piers best work! I imagined it the same way it was wonderful and the changes from Morocco to Italy were seemless I really enjoyed the scene in Corinth because thats supposed to be how it really looks in Morocco!!! Two thumbs up Pier!!! Great work

A master filmmaker gets a bland treatment.......2003-05-22

I've reviewed each of the titles in this box set separately (although Oedipus Rex won't come up if you search by Pasolini, as it's attributed to Philip Saville, who also directed a version of the Sophocles play in 1967), so I won't go into specifics here, but I would like to make some general statements about this box set. Pasolini is an intriguing figure, both as a filmmaker and as a person. His films are a strange mix of politics, social criticism, neo-classicism, and deeply personal insight.

Unfortunately, Waterbearer hasn't done these films justice. The transfers on the discs are very washed-out, they're poorly matted, and the film is pitted and scratched. The audio on the discs is hissy and the levels are set too high - there is quite a bit of distortion on some of the music. The subtitles are burned in (not optional) and are white. On this makes for extremely difficult reading, as the film itself is black and white. Some of the subtitles on are also impossible to read, as some of the characters are wearing white costumes.

I would be willing to chalk all of these problems up to the age of the films if it weren't for one thing. Waterbearer's earlier, now out-of-print issues of Pasolini's Trilogy of Life films (Decameron, Canterbury Tales, and Arabian Nights) all suffered from muddy transfers and poor audio, yet MGM's recent reissue of The Decameron features a beautiful anamorphic transfer (incidentally, Waterbearer's edition of Spirits of the Dead also featured a cruddy transfer, which has fortunately been superseded by HVE's beautiful edition). It is possible to restore these films, and there is certainly interest in them, but unfortunately it looks like we're going to have to suffer with these mediocre transfers until someone with enough clout figures this out.

My other complaints are fairly minor. The box itself is merely a flimsy paper slipcase, and each of the discs features the same documentary as a special feature. While the documentary is interesting and worth watching, I don't understand the logic of putting it on all three discs. Also, the price that Waterbearer has put on this set, especially considering the mediocre-at-best quality of the transfers, is puzzling if not downright insulting. However, for Pasolini enthusiasts, it's all we've got for now.

Waterbearer will be releasing Volume 2 this summer, and it will include a re-issue of The Gospel According to St. Matthew, Accatotone, and The Hawks and the Sparrows. Hopefully, those transfers will be worthy of such an innovative filmmaker.

A master filmmaker gets a bland treatment.......2003-05-22

Three intriguing Pasolini films.......2003-05-15

This three-film box set provides a very good introduction to Pasolini. It includes the rare early documentary LOVE MEETINGS (1964); one of his best and most representative films, OEDIPUS REX (1967); and the deeply strange but unforgettable PORCILE (1969). Although I have written about these DVDs individually elsewhere at Amazon.com, let me briefly introduce them here. LOVE MEETINGS (COMIZI D'AMORE, literally "debates about love") is Pasolini's cinema verite investigation of sexual attitudes among a broad spectrum of Italians, from liberal students to soccer stars to traditional villagers, from all parts of the country. It also provides a fascinating, albeit indirect, portrait of Pasolini himself, as this extraordinary filmmaker, poet, novelist, and theoretician reveals much about his own attitudes towards sex and the Italian people. OEDIPUS REX is his opulent and riveting adaptation of the ancient myth; simultaneously, it is a provocative reflection of the filmmaker himself (Pasolini sets the prologue in Fascist Italy, depicting his own father and mother as Oedipus' parents). PORCILE (aka PIGSTY), filmed with serene beauty and underlying horror, is one of Pasolini's most hauntingly original works. It interweaves two seemingly disconnected tales, that of a young man forced into a life of cannibalism in a dreamlike medieval Wasteland, and that of the enigmatic son of an ex-Nazi industrialist in modern Germany. Both men become sacrificial victims of their different societies. Each of the three discs includes the same excellent half-hour 1970 documentary on Pasolini, but no other features. The Pasolini Foundation in Rome, which controls the rights to all three films, insisted that the U.S. distributor release the DVDs without any chapters (i.e., each is in one continuous track), to encourage people to watch each picture in its entirety. Still, it is a privilege to have these three extraordinary films on DVD, and I look forward to the Pasolini Collection, Volume 2.

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