[[quoteright:321:https://static.tvtropes.org/pmwiki/pub/images/electra_sm_web.jpg]]

''Electra'' is a 1962 film from Greece directed by Michael Cacoyannis.

It is an adaptation of Ancient Greek play ''Electra'' by Creator/{{Euripides}}, which is distinct from a different Ancient Greek play, ''Theatre/{{Electra}}'' by Sophocles, all of which are based on the myth of [[https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Electra Electra]].

King Agamemnon returns home in triumph from the Trojan War, only to be murdered upon his return by his wife Clytemnestra and her lover Aegisthus. Agamemnon and Clytemnestra's middle-school aged son Orestes is spirited away into hiding by people loyal to Agamemnon. Electra, Orestes's older sister (Creator/IrenePappas), is held captive at the palace. Eventually Aegisthus and Clytemnestra marry her off to a poor peasant farmer, far beneath her station, in an attempt to basically make her into an {{Unperson}}.

Years pass. The farmer is respectful to Electra, never trying to have sex with her, and in return she keeps his house, but she still thirsts for revenge against her mother and her mother's lover. When she's found by her brother Orestes, now a grown man, they set about getting that revenge.

This was the first film in what became Michael Cacoyannis's "Greek Tragedy" history, followed by ''The Trojan Women'' and ''Film/{{Iphigenia}}''. ''Iphigenia'' is basically a prequel to this film, explaining just why Clytemnestra murdered her husband. Irene Pappas starred in ''Iphigenia'' as Clytemnestra after playing Clytemnestra's daughter in this film.

----
!!Tropes:

* AsYouKnow: Just about the only dialogue in the first twelve minutes or so of the movie comes in a scene where two shepherds, who see Electra riding in a cart, commiserate about how she's been married off to some random farmer in an effort to render her unimportant.
* BarefootPoverty: Electra when she's living in the country as a farmer's wife. Although it seems to be for show, as the farmer isn't ''that'' poor and the ladies-in-waiting hanging around Electra (in fact, the literal GreekChorus) have shoes.
* CycleOfRevenge: Clytemnestra conspired to murder her husband because he turned their daughter Film/{{Iphigenia}} into a HumanSacrifice to appease the gods before the Trojan War. Orestes and Electra in turn murder their mother, and are left as social outcasts.
* DeadlyBath: Agamemnon settles into a well-earned bath after coming home from ten years of war, only for his wife and her lover to throw a net over him and then chop him up with an axe.
* DisturbedDoves: Pigeons fly up into the sky as Clytemnestra screams while Orestes kills her.
* DramaticIrony: Electra fails to recognize Orestes, whom she hasn't seen since he was a boy. A whole scene follows where Orestes passes himself off as a friend of Orestes, while quizzing Electra about what she'd say to her brother if she found him.
* EstablishingCharacterMoment: As the family assembles to greet Agamemnon on his return, Clytemnestra puts an arm around each of her kids. Electra pulls her mother's arm off, showing that there was distance between them even before the murder.
* GreekChorus: Electra's companions at the farm are a literal example of this, commenting on the action.
* ImportantHaircut: Electra hacks off her long hair after her father's murder, calling it a sacrifice to him.
* KilledOffscreen:
** Orestes killing Aegisthus is not shown. The scene with the two of them at the feast table during Aegisthus's Bacchus festival, cuts directly to a messenger coming to Electra and telling her that Orestes killed Aegisthus.
** Ditto Clytemnestra, as all we see are the women of the chorus moaning and wailing outside while Clytemnestra screams inside. The whole murder, including how Clytemnestra embraced her son and begged for mercy, is only described after the fact.
* KubrickStare: A wrathful Clytemnestra does this when telling Electra her motive for murdering her husband: not only did he sacrifice their oldest daughter to the gods, he brought home another woman and expected them to live as a threesome.
* MatchCut: A shot of Agamemnon's dead hand after the murder cuts to young Orestes reaching down and picking up the sword his father left behind.
* MaybeEverAfter: Hinted at with Electra and Orestes's sidekick, Pylades. When a remorseful Electra wonders what man could possibly accept her love after she killed her mother, there's an immediate cut to Pylades. At the very end, as Orestes and Electra walk off separately, Pylades goes off after his master--but after a gesture from Orestes, he turns and follows Electra instead.
* MyGodWhatHaveIDone: Orestes and Electra both go through this immediately after killing their mother. They are horrified at their action, and they both walk away separately in despair.
* NumberObsession: Abby is shown to have a counting fixation by her counting windows early in the film.
* PlotTriggeringDeath: A lot of bad consequences ensue from a vengeful Clytemnestra murdering her husband.
* PsychicLink: Electra and Agamemnon seem to have one, as demonstrated by how she collapses to the ground in agony as her father is being murdered inside the palace.
* SexlessMarriage: Electra's farmer husband "respects" her. He says it's because the man who gave her away, Aegisthus, had no right to do so.
* SilenceIsGolden: The whole sequence of events that starts the movie--Agamemnon's return, the murder, Orestes' escape, Electra's imprisonment--is done without any dialogue other than Clytemnestra shouting "Strike him!" at her lover as she wrestles with the net entangling Agamemnon.
* TimeShiftedActor: Both Electra and Orestes are played by younger actors in the opening sequence, before being played by adults after the story jumps forward several years.