Oedipus the King

Understandably they wanted big names but movie actors aren't necessarily able to play ancient drama. Plummer and Palmer are struggling here, Welles on the other hand is surprisingly good.

Christopher Plummer is Oedipus in this English-language version of Sophocles' play about fate fate and the cruelty of the Gods.

Plummer gives an intense performance as the man who murdered his father in what may be the earliest recorded instance of road rage, then married his mother unawares and thus became king of Thebes, carrying out willy-nilly the prophecy made at his birth. For more than two millennia this has been considered the greatest tragedy ever written, and under the direction of Philip Savile, with a cast that includes Lili Palmer, Cyril Cusack, Orson Welles, Roger Livesey, and Donald Sutherland, it remains a warning that we cannot evade our fate. DP Walter Lassally photographs Epirus as the plague-stricken city with a slow camera speed that bleaches the landscape near the limits of endurance.

Some critics of this movie denigrated the stylised performances and ancient setting, but the producers were trying to faithfully portray a play which is 2,500 years old. It is an important movie and I think the correct decision was made not to modernise it for contemporary audiences. I thought that Christopher Plummer did a superb job of portraying the doomed hero. His big dramatic acting style perfectly fitted the setting. We use the phrase "it's not a Greek tragedy" when someone is overdoing a drama in real life. We use that expression for a reason, Greek tragedies were epic stories of Gods and men not everyday episodes in a domestic soap opera. Therefore the acting style has to be appropriate to the subject. The entire cast were mostly excellent in their parts; Cyril Cussak, Orson Welles and Lilli Palmer were outstanding. As others have commented, why did they overdub Donald Sutherland's voice with Patrick Allen's? It was a distraction.

Sophocles on cinema is a delight; but with a dream cast that includes the lovely, talented Lili Palmer, the great Orson Welles, the charming Cyril Cusack, the arresting Donald Sutherland in a most unusual role, and of course stalwarts Christopher Plummer and Richard Johnson, the effect can be heady.

I recommend the film to anyone who cares for drama and acting. I am amused that the film has not been marketed intelligently by the studios and remains unseen by many who would have loved to see the film.

The scenes where Oedipus unknowingly kills his own father is captured on film in a truly remarkable way, suggesting the fleeting moment where recognition between father and son is totally implausible.

Jocasta's (Lili Palmer) performance is top notch--probably her best role ever. Cyril Cusack, Orson Welles, and Donald Sutherland add additional flavour to this remarkable effort.

I have always wondered why the famous cinematographer Walter Lassally did not choose to film the movie in the letterbox or cinemascope format, which would have given the subject an epic sweep it deserved. The format used by Lassally restricted the film to the level of a play on film rather than cinema capturing the great play on celluloid. Even with this fault, the film will remain one of my favourites. I commend Phillip Saville for his casting--bringing together great actors on both sides of the Atlantic.

I doubt if the ancient Greeks could have enjoyed the play any better than on a technicolor screen with special effects.

Sophocles' ancient play "Oedipus Rex" is brought to the screen in this 1968 version, "Oedipus the King". The language is rather modern...which makes sense because the ancient Greek play was translated into English. However, the style of the film is much like an ancient Greek play...with choruses, stilted language and a dramatic style which has long passed. I know that some might be shocked to hear this, but I'd MUCH rather see a version of the story of Oedipus with a modern style and language...one which seems less like a 2500 year-old play. To heighten this ancient look, it was actually filmed at an ancient Greek ampitheater! This was cool BUT I think most others would feel the same way about wanting a more modern production, as the play is for a small, select sort of audience.

The film started poorly, with a blurry set of slide appearing on the screen along with the credits. It just looked cheap. As for the story itself, it is incredible that so many great actors are in it...with Christopher Plummer in the lead. Oddly, a young Donald Sutherland is in the film BUT he's dubbed with someone else's voice! Folks back in 1968 might not have noticed but the weird voice is jarring for folks watching today.

In some ways, this 1968 film is admirable, as they obviously tried to make something special. But it's also SLOW and DULL...which shouldn't be since the actually story itself if pretty cool. Only for select folks...and a film I did not particularly enjoy watching.