Screening of “Medea” by Pier Paolo Pasolini Screening preceded by a discussion with Bartolomeo Pietromarchi
MÉDÉE © 1970 SND (GROUPE M6). TOUS DROITS RÉSERVÉS.
The screening will be preceded by a public meeting with Bartolomeo Pietromarchi
Medea the sorceress, daughter of the King of Colchis, sees Prince Jason arrive in her land to steal the Golden Fleece, the idol of her people. Falling madly in love with the young Greek, she betrays her family and country by stealing the Golden Fleece for him, and goes into exile at his side. Years later, having borne him two children, the man for whom she gave up everything turns his back on her for a younger woman…
Medea
1969 | Italy / France / FRG | 110 mn | Color | VOSTF
Directed by Pier Paolo PASOLINI
Screenplay: Pier Paolo PASOLINI, after EURIPIDE’s Medea
Starring : Maria CALLAS, Laurent TERZIEFF, Massimo GIROTTI, Giuseppe GENTILE, Margareth CLÉMENTI
Editing: Nino BARAGLI
Director of photography: Ennio GUARNIERI
Sets : Dante FERRETTI
Producer: Franco ROSSELLINI
Distribution: Carlotta films
An adaptation of Euripides’ famous tragedy, Medea is a sublime work brimming with all the bloody excess of Greek myth. Pier Paolo Pasolini brings his trilogy, which began with L’Évangile selon saint Matthieu and Œdipe roi, to a brilliant close. It was during the 1960s that the filmmaker passionately rediscovered Antiquity and its great myths, while at the same time traveling throughout Africa, the Middle East and Asia – some of Medea ‘s exterior scenes were shot in Syria and Turkey. Pasolini saw these new landscapes as a way of getting closer to the sacred, far from Italy and the political capitalism he loathed. Embodied by the singer Maria Callas in her only film role, extraordinary in her interpretation full of grace and passion, she infuses this classic figure of the guilty woman with a humanity that had never before been allowed. A total and dazzling work, Medea is a subtle blend of classical mythology and contemporary social criticism.
Bartolomeo Pietromarchi is a contemporary art critic, curator and artistic director. He has headed several museums and foundations, including MAXXI, MAXXI L’Aquila and MACRO, and curated the Italian pavilion at the Venice Biennale. He has also curated solo exhibitions by Italian and international artists such as Shirin Neshat, Mario Merz, Enzo Cucchi and Giulio Paolini, and group exhibitions such as “Pier Paolo Pasolini. Tutto è santo” (Palazzo delle Esposizioni, Rome). He is also the author of several essays, a professor at the IULM (Milan) and a visiting professor at the Guangzhou Academy of Fine Arts (China). He is a contributor to the publication “Pasolini in chiaroscuro”.
