If you have any interest whatsoever in Greek tragedy, this is a film not to miss. It's done in English (an Edith Hamilton translation), beautifully filmed and it has four major actresses in the principal roles: Katherine Hepburn as Hecuba, the widow of Priam, Troy's king, Vanessa Redgrave as Andromache, Hector's widow, Genevieve Bujold as Cassandra and Irene Papas as Helen, whose decision to leave King Menelaus for the visiting Paris precipitates the war. Hepburn has the dominant role and is always in the foreground or the background, but each of the other stars has a moment when she is at the center, and each of them acquits herself in great style. There's also a Greek chorus of women, each striking in appearance. Given the color of their eyes and the differences in their complexions, the members of the chorus are by no means all Greek unless pale skin and blue, green or hazel eyes has become an ethnic characteristic of Greeks when I wasn't looking. Papas, of course, is a classic Greek beauty, and she isn't pale skinned or blue eyed. Hepburn, Redgrave and Bujold don't look very Greek either. But when it comes to the classics, who cares? The dialog is mainly declamatory, as is the case with most Greek tragedies that I've seen, and the action is sparse. But Euripides was a great dramatist and the emotions run both high and deep. Hecuba has lost her husband and all her children except Cassandra who is mad and about to be taken as a slave. Andromache has lost her husband and is about to have her son taken from her and killed before she is forced into slavery. And, the beautiful, seductive Helen, hated by all the Trojan women, is trying to persuade Menelaus that "Aphrodite made me do it"while Hecuba urges him to kill her. Michael Cacoyannis (the way it's spelled on the DVD, though not on IMDb) directs the movie efficiently. Greek drama isn't very fashionable these days but The Trojan Women is a good introduction to a great body of work.
Review of The Trojan Women
