Euripides was called by Aristotle 'the most tragic of poets'. The grittiness, tragic irony and psychological penetration of his plays proved to be of great appeal to director Michael Cacoyannis. He filmed a magnificent 'Electra' in 1961 with Greek actors but his 'Trojan Women' of 1971, despite a starry, international cast, is alas a monumental misfire. Six years later he has favoured once more an all Greek cast for 'Iphigenia' and has scored what can only be described as a palpable hit.
It actually lost out as Best Foreign Film at the Oscars to 'Madame Rosa' but so did 'A Special Day' and 'That Obscure Object of Desire' so no disgrace there.
The excellent screenplay by Cacoyannis has kept the structure of the original but has stripped everything down to the bare essentials. He has simplified the language and solved the eternal problem of how to interpolate the Greek Chorus by pretty well dispensing with it altogether.
The characters are not mythological icons but as played by Kostas Kazakos, Irene Papas and Tatiana Papamoschu we see Agamemnon, Clytaemnestra and Iphigenia depicted as flesh and blood characters buffeted by Fate. Papamoschu is only thirteen here but her performance shows astonishing maturity. The scene where she pleads with her father Agamemnon for her life before nobly accepting that she must be sacrificially slaughtered for the good of Greece is utterly heart-rending.
Cacoyannis has wisely dispensed with a scene in the original manuscript in which a messenger relates how the Goddess Artemis has substituted a deer for Iphigenia on the altar. It has long been considered that this scene has been tacked on by a hand other than that of Euripides and would in any case be unacceptable to a modern audience. The climax that Cacoyannis has devised is absolutely devastating, eminently filmic and heightens the tragic futility of Iphigenia's death. A brilliant conception.
Kazakos is superlative as a King who must sacrifice his beloved daughter in order to appease the 'thousand-headed monster' of the army that he needs to conquer Troy. What can one say of the stunning Irene Papas? Her character's journey from joy, to anguish and finally to hate is brilliantly conceived. Her final close up gives dreadful note of what is to come. In future years she will wreak a terrible revenge on her husband and in turn be murdered by her son. Oh well, every family has its ups and downs!
