The Trojan Women (1971)

After the war...

Depicts the events immediately after the fall of Troy and what happened to the survivors of the war on the Trojan side. August 26, 2007

A tragedy is taught

With this production, Cacoyannis has achieved his best ever performance and has shown his directing genius; with this film, he can be considered as one of the best directors worldwide and a unique master in transferring classic Greek Drama to the screen.

Trojan Women is one of the best dramas written by Euripides 480~406 BC and can be truly appreciated from the way Cacoyannis remain faithful to the original script(415 BC)and his ability to transfer a theater masterpiece to a film.
He simplified the scenery, he utilized pastel soft colours for the background, he limited the scenery to the bare minimum and he brought forward the characters as Euripides himself indented it.

Cacoyannis has presented the best abilities of a group of exceptional actresses such as Vanessa Redgrave, Katharine Hepburn Genevieve Bujold, Ireni Papas.

One of best ever performances of Katharine Hepburn in one of the most difficult roles, as a queen of a defeated country, a wife of a proud King, a leader of the women, a mother of heroes and a mother of a daughter with an exceptional personality, a proud mother in law and a loving grandmother, struggling to maintain sense in a senseless tragic situation.

Irene Papa has performed extremely well the provocative and proud role of Helen to the point that the viewer might easily develop sentiments of hate towards her.

Vanessa Redgrave represented the very meaning of pride, character, and determination and yet at the same time the suffering of the wife of a hero and the mother of a child that must be eliminated by those who claim victory.

One of the best performances is the one of Genevieve Bujold in the role of Cassandra, in what can be considered as a perfect interpretation in one of the most complicated and universal statements ever made in the history of mankind when in her craziness is able to question the meaning of war, the very meaning of victors and losers.
This specific part must be observed with special attention as it can be compared only with the meanings that emerged from the epitaph of Pericles and it forms the core meaning of the entire drama.

A classic script that became accessible to millions through the excellent work of Cacoyannis.

In conclusion we can return to the terminology of the Greeks that when they refer to the classic drama they do not use the word " see a tragedy " but " A tragedy is taught"

August 9, 2006

Star studded Drama

The other reviews capsulate pretty much the story and the performances, and the movie will not appeal to those unfamiliar with Greek history. No one can watch this movie without misting up when the child, Astyanax, is taken from Andromache. Hecuba's big mistake is in letting Helen defend herself, although for the story she has to have her defense. I don't find it stilted, over dramatized or disjointed. Not to those of us who love the plays of Euripides. The translation is by the author Edith Hamilton and updates most of archaic phrases. The movie is unmatched in telling the story of the women left behind in any war, offensive or defensive. However, to paraphrase Cassandra, who says it best, "Trojans died defending their country, no glory greater". March 6, 2006

"Anguish Heaped Upon Anguish"

Ancient Greek plays with all their dramatic devices and often an emphasis on static speeches by the actors and the chorus often do not translate well to the screen. Euripides' "The Trojan Women," however, is an exception to the rule. What makes this production work is the fine acting by most of the performers as well as the beautiful language, though in translation, of Euripides.

The plot is simple and straight forward. Queen Hecuba (Katharine Hepburn), her now crazed daughter Cassandra (Genevieve Bujold), her daughter-in-law Andromache (Vanessa Redgrave) and a host of other Trojan women are now at the mercy of the Greek victors. The play builds as one catastrophe after another befalls these women. Cassanda will be the wife of Agammemnon, Andromache will go with the son of Achilles, and Hecuba will become the slave of Odysseus-- or as Hecuba so aptly puts it, "Anguish heaped upon anguish."

The Greek chorus-- or in this instance I suppose we must call them the "Trojan Chorus" works well. Irene Papas plays a different sort of Helen than we see through other writers' eyes. Here she is unbowed, even as she awaits her fate from the hands of her wronged husband Menelaus. In a quite wonderful scene, after Helen has made her pitch to him to spare her life, Hecuba delivers the great lines: "Kill her, Menelaus." Ms. Hepburn has a lot of such passages. I remember from having seen the movie when it was released in 1971 her lines: "Kindness unwanted is unkindness."

The theme is obvious. Wars always hurt the women and children most-- Andromache's son almost steals the movie, by the way-- and while the weaponry and locales may change, war in 2005 is not that much different than it ever was, a sad, sobering thought. November 27, 2005

gets under your skin

I first saw this movie in college freshman English way back in 1974, before I knew anything about feminism or Greek myths. I had no idea what was going on most of the time. But it got under my skin so effectively that the images stayed with me for nearly 30 years, and when war became an issue in the US I suddenly HAD to see it again. By now I knew more about feminism and Greek myths, but it still retains incredible power. Maybe it is stilted and showing the 1971 age, but the power of the playwright stands through it all. A true classic in the best possible sense. October 8, 2005

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