Iphigenia

(aka 'Iphigenia' or 'Ifigenia')

Directed by Michael Cacoyannis
Greece 1977

Michael Cacoyannis, director of Electra (1962) and The Trojan Women (1971), has perhaps for the first time successfully brought the feel of ancient Greek theatre to the screen. Iphigenia (1977) is based on Euripedes's Iphigenia at Aulis, a story of an incident just prior to the Trojan War. Helen has run off to Troy with Paris. Agamemnon, brother to Menaleus, Helen's husband, will lead the Greek armies to the shores of Troy. But at the Bay of Aulis the armies wait for winds to carry their boats to Troy. This is where the film begins.

Cacoyannis establishes in just a few minutes of film exposition the restlessness of the Greek armies waiting on the Aulis shore. The men of the armies feel as though the lack of wind were the fault of Agamemnon. The men are tired and hungry, and aching to go into battle. To feed the men, Agamemnon directs soldiers to kill the sheep kept by the holy men who attend the temple of Diana, but the sacred hart is accidentally slain. An oracle is delivered to Agamemnon soon after by Calchas the priest of the temple of Diana. For the wind to blow, Agamemnon must offer up a sacrifice. The armies are jubilant, but what they do not know, and what Agamemnon, Menaleus, Odysseus and Calchas know a few moments after the announcement to the men is that Agamemnon must sacrifice the first-born daughter, Iphigenia.

Excerpt from CineMonkey's Carl Bennett (writing as David Waich) review located HERE

Gary W. Tooze

Poster

Theatrical Release: September 10th, 1977 - Toronto Film Festival

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DVD Review: MGM - Region 1 - NTSC

DVD Box Cover		CLICK to order from:
Distribution	MGM Home Video - Region 1 - NTSC
Runtime	2:09:08
Video	1.66:1 Aspect Ratio Average Bitrate: 7.55 mb/s NTSC 720x480 29.97 f/s
	NOTE: The Vertical axis represents the bits transferred per second. The Horizontal is the time in minutes.
Bitrate:
Audio	Greek (Dolby Digital 1.0), DUB: Spanish (Dolby Digital 1.0)
Subtitles	English, Spanish, French, None
Features	Release Information: Studio: MGM Home Video Aspect Ratio: Original Aspect Ratio 1.66:1 Edition Details: • none DVD Release Date: July 24th, 2007 Keep Case Chapters: 20

Comments:

The MGM image shows some strong detail at times and it doesn't appear to have had any significant digital manipulations. MGM have, surprisingly, maintained the allusive 1.66 aspect ratio in a clean, anamorphic, progressive and dual-layered transfer. In testing I had some issues with turning off the subtitles - offered in English, Spanish or French. Audio was clear and there is a Spanish DUB available.

There are zero extra features. Cacoyannis (or 'Kakogiannis') builds a very realistic film and from that standpoint I was very attentive in my viewing. He certainly captured the historic timeframe very well - in a unique fashion. I can't say the film is for everyone but I was quite getting into it. Interesting and quite different from the other Cacoyannis' works I have seen (Stella and A Matter of Dignity - both available on DVD). It is refreshing to see MGM treat world cinema with healthy transfers.

Gary W. Tooze

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