Electra, My Love
It has been fifteen years since the death of her father, Agamemnon, and Elektra, still burning with hatred towards his murderer, the tyrant Aegisztosz, attempts to rouse an apathetic population against the rule of this usurper.
A richly inventive adaptation of the two-thousand-year-old Greek myth. This searing exposé of oppression and the abuse of power resonates inescapably in twentieth century Hungary, reflecting attitudes towards tyranny and dictatorship from the modern man’s perspective. Jancsó makes use of the play's framework to make charges against the then Russian rulership that continues to resonate today.
A thoroughly enjoyable cinematic tour de force, the 71 minute film consists of 12 single take, intricately choreographed set pieces.
Restored in 4K from its original 35mm camera negative by National Film Institute Hungary – Film Archive.
“Though a tour-de-force, this escapes pretension, for Jancsó has mastered his form... But with the familiar Elektra tale all this workmanship falls into place for one of his best pictures in some time.”
"A long way of saying that “Electra, My Love” is—as this clip shows—a very different kind of film, though it shares a few crucial elements, notably, the sinuous long takes (which in the later film are, by and large, less elaborate) and the ubiquity of history in the present tense."
György Cserhalmi
József Madaras
Lajos Balazsovits
Gabbi Jobba
Tamás Cseh
Tamás Jordán
Writers László Gyurkó and Gyula Hernádi
Cinematographer János Kende
