Was Medea purely evil or just a bad case of a woman scorned? The sorceress of Greek mythology has been the subject of theater for thousands of years, starting with Euripedes, and, later, an opera by Cherubini. One of the last century\'s great divas, Maria Callas, knew the story well. She was ideally cast in the starring role of Medea, Pier Paolo Pasolini\'s 1970 film adaptation. A beautifully restored print has been issued on Blu-ray.
The mystical Marxist Italian director didn\'t ignore the story, but appeared more interested by the poetic narrative\'s potential for visual and auditory splendor, stylized images and other worldly music played on ancient strings and sung in primeval Balkan harmonies. The clank of antique jewelry is heard more often than dialogue for much of the film. Pasolini shot Medea\'s greatest scenes in the surreal, sun scorched landscape of Anatolia amid weird mountains, Eastern Orthodox shrines carved from rock and strange stony villages that might have inspired the alien architecture of Star Wars. Callas\' exotic beauty is the film\'s anchor point, a moving center of gravity amid the lavish costumes and ritual and an atmosphere rich with the uncanny.
