You get to know where Medea comes from before you see her. The film starts with the overthrow of King Aeson and his son Jason being put in the hands of a centaur Chiron. At the back of his mind, Chiron knows Jason is going to stray too far from Colchis one day to come steal away its golden fleece. The film then abruptly changes into what looks like a documentary of an incident in Colchis. In particular, we note that it is the king’s own son who is sacrificed while Princess Medea doubles as the priestess presiding over it all. This unsettles us readers and foreshadows problems for Jason when he begins his future mission.
Medea is influenced heavily by the ancient play written by Euripides, and shot as a Pasolini film with creative choices made to appeal to historical accuracy but rather to create the picture as envisioned by its creator. He sets a color scheme for each place: earth tones dominate Colchis; Ioclus comes in whites & yellows; Corinth looks red when painted. The musical score consists of Tibetan chants, Persian santur and Balkan choral representing themes relating to women or particular settings. Pasoini manages to bring an element of weirdness into a past that is old. This is our world, but there are so many things still under the shroud of mystification.
Pasolini’s film career took place as Italy was undergoing significant post-war changes. He does that more explicitly in Accattone and Mamma Roma, which are the closest of his films to the neo-realist genre. However, Pasolini seemed far more interested in the symbolic; especially Catholic iconography and mythological figures. Capitalist forces still hold sway even after Mussolini’s downfall revealing the fascist power behind them that exists till today. This period of rampant consumerism was derided by Pasolini as “cultural genocide”, seeing Italians being made into a single race by mass produced commodities like processed foods.
The Greece depicted here is a time before much of ancient Greece we know in the west existed. This isn’t Socrates’ Greece but the world of mysteries, and sacredness. The landscape can also be alien-like often times, as do encounters in nature that possess hidden meanings. Pasolini’s attention had now shifted towards investigating filmic strength without words. He only used 923 words in his brilliant satire yet it captured everything needed. Medea follows suit by keeping its dialogue to what must be said and cannot be told through images alone.
I always knew why a character was doing what they did.
A great example of Pasolini’s technique in the film is the character Chiron. A centaur is seen when Jason returns with Medea and the Golden Fleece; however, it appears as if he has two bodies, one of a centaur and the other a human being. Both are Chiron; they make this clear. I interpreted this as Jason’s growing up process and his loss of faith in mythologies. Strange animals turn out to be just people when you get older.
But there is still one thing I have not touched on yet, and that is Maria Callas in Medea. It makes me wonder why she didn’t act in more movies. The story of Medea is about subsuming oneself into another, an oppressive culture. Her condition in helping Jason was to leave with him. However, as soon as she begins familiarizing herself with his culture, she despises it for its coarseness. In this setting men are always superior to women. But instead of being the respected priestess and leader she was at home in her community, now Medea becomes Jason’s wife and his children’s mother. Having a baby reminds Medea of who she is; having a baby gives her the power to speak with the god as she tells her nurse “I am myself still a vessel receiving experience.”
This final act of Medea’s catapulted her into infamy and here she stands glorious defiant against the annihilation of her culture. She was not safe even through submission itself failed too. Now all that remains is taking revenge on her jailer and causing him pain just like hers. Driven by the realization that she will only be used to bear children from now onwards, he takes what Jason loves most away from him
Jason intends to marry a “good” or decent woman from his own culture, and Medea acknowledges her own perspective. It is a great dramatic tragedy and Pasolini does it wonderfully.
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