ELECTRA (1962): POST-FILM DISCUSSION w/ MICHAEL CACOYANNIS BIOGRAPHER JOHN HOWARD

Friday, April 7, 2023
Olympia Film Society & Evergreen Present:
Electra (1964)
Post-Film Discussion w/ Michael Cacoyannis Biographer John Howard
Doors 6:00PM / Film 7:00PM
$12 GA & $9 OFS
This excellent adaptation by Michael Cacoyannis of the famous tragedy by Euripides garnered him his first international success and an award at the 1962 Cannes Film Festival. Irene Papas plays Electra, the daughter of King Agememnon and sister of Orestes, caught up in an uncontrollable need for revenge. After the king returns from the battlefield, Clytemestra (his wife) joins with her lover in murdering the hapless ruler while he bathes. Orestes is sent away immediately, and Electra is left to simmer in her growing hatred of her mother until one day, she and Orestes manage to get together and hatch a scheme to avenge Agememnon’s death. After the screening concludes, Cacoyannis’ biographer, John Howard (Truths Up His Sleeve: The Times of Michael Cacoyannis) will be present for a post-film discussion. Howard will also be giving a talk at Evergreen on Monday, April 10th at 3:00. “Doing Queer History: Here and Now” is open to the public and places the author’s work on Cacoyannis in context.
Dir: Michael Cacoyannis / 1962 / Greece / 110 min

About the Book:
This first critical biography of radio broadcaster, stage director, and auteur filmmaker Michael Cacoyannis examines his prolific body of work within the socio-political context of his times. Best known as a bold modernist for triple-Oscar-winner ‘Zorba the Greek’, Michael likewise was hailed as an astute classicist for his inventive interpretations of Euripides. Working across several continents and languages, he forwarded feminist, humanist, and pacifist agendas, as he further innovated crafty LGBT narratives of unprecedented artistry and complexity. Despite intense persecution during the Cold War red scare and lavender scare, his casts and crews of frugal cosmopolitans critiqued racism, militarism, sexism, homophobia, and transphobia. Avoiding censorship, job loss, and jail, Michael thereby laid foundations for the 1990s new queer cinema and set the stage for empowering dramas of socio-economic justice in the third millennium. Over his long life and productive career, Michael exposed and espoused the vital truths up his sleeve.

SCREENING: FRI 4/7 7PM
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Updated: November 7, 2022

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