For true lovers of the classics, The Trojan Women is a moving anti-war discourse told through the lens of the aftermath of that legendary conflict, the Trojan War.
While I agree that at times Katharine Hepburn's own light outshines Hecuba's, I was really very pleased with each leading lady's portrayal of her
character. Hepburn is the consummate tragedician, and her unexpected expressiveness really took me by surprise and made each mounting horror all the worse. I found her monologues to be the most stirring the the four main actors.
Vanessa Redgrave is gorgeous but also talented in the role of a despairing Andromache. The little boy who plays Astyanax, Brian Blessed, really pulls the heartstrings on this one. I was also impressed with the man who played Talthybius, who presented very well the image of a rough man struggling with pity and guilt at being the bearer of bad news.
The real star of the film, though, is Irene Papas. Cacoyannis' gem, she portrays a very dark, conniving Helen whom I'm sure the general public would be very shocked to encounter. As has been said before, she could perform the role just with her eyes.
Geneviève Bujold perhaps overplays Cassandra, but, after all, she is supposed to be mad. Her monologue towards the beginning of the movie carries the strongest anti-war message. Bujold expertly pulls off Cassandra's prophetic aspects.
For a film entirely in Edith Hamilton's verse, the actresses' speech was very unaffected. Overall, the screenplay is probably too theatrical and the subject matter too esoteric for the casual viewer, but the film succeeds nicely as a star-studded dramatization of Euripedes' classic tragedy.
January 21, 2011
