Iphigenia is a 1977 film from Greece directed by Michael Cacoyannis.
It is an adaptation of the Ancient Greek play Iphigenia in Aulis by Euripides, which was itself an adaptation of the ancient myth of Iphigenia
. The Greeks are in the port town of Aulis, having assembled to set sail to Troy and get The Trojan War rolling. But there's no wind and the human race is still about three thousand years away from inventing the steam engine, so the ships are sitting in port, and the thousand soldiers there are getting restless.
King Agamemnon, commander of the Greek army, leads a hunting party to corral some sheep. One soldier follows a sacred deer into the temple of the goddess Artemis and kills it, which is a very bad thing. Calchas, the oracle of Artemis, arrives in the Greek camp with unwelcome news: Artemis demands a human sacrifice to atone for the killing of the deer. If Artemis doesn't get her sacrifice, she will make sure that the Greek fleet never gets a favorable wind and thus won't be able to set out for Troy. And Artemis doesn't want any old human for her sacrifice, she wants a specific one: Agamemnon's eldest child, his teenaged daughter Iphigenia.
Irene Pappas appears as Iphigenia's mother, Clytemnestra. Iphigenia is the third film in Michael Cacoyannis's "Greek Tragedy" trilogy, following Electra and The Trojan Women. This film is basically a prequel to Electra, which deals with Agamemnon facing the consequences of sacrificing his daughter. (Irene Pappas played Electra in the earlier film, and she plays Electra's mother in this one.)
Tropes:
- As You Know: Agamemnon helpfully sketches out some relationships when, while talking about the impending war, he says "I speak not as Menelaus's brother, nor as the husband of Helen's sister Clytemnestra."
- Blue-and-Orange Morality: The practice of human sacrifice, and a society that not only accepts it but demands it. The entire Greek army demands the sacrifice of Iphigenia when the word gets out, all of them except for Achilles, the only one who volunteers to defend her.
- Call-Back: The scene where Iphigenia runs through the woods in panic and falls down is shot to mirror the opening scene where the hunter chases the deer, Jitter Cam and all.
- Call-Forward: Iphigenia tries to let her father off the hook, telling Clytemnestra that he isn't to blame. Clytemnestra then shouts "He is! And he'll pay for this!" In Ancient Greek mythology Clytemnestra and her lover Aegisthus murdered Agamemnon on his return to Greece.
- Dramatic Irony: Agamemnon has lured his daughter to Aulis on the pretense that she is going to be married to Achilles. Iphigenia wonders if a ritual sacrifice may be necessary for the favorable wind that the Greeks need to get to Troy. She asks her father if she can go with him to the sacrifice and he says "You will be with me to the very end."
- Evil Wears Black: Calchas, the oracle of Artemis who will actually perform the ritual sacrifice of Iphigenia, is clad all in black when she arrives at the altar on the top of the hill.
- Face Death with Dignity: Iphigenia initially panics, as one might expect, running away, and then later begging her father for mercy. But once it becomes clear that there's no escape she becomes calm, asks for her bridal robe, and walks to her death unaccompanied.Iphigenia: I'll die peacefully, proudly, beautifully.
- Gainax Ending: Ancient versions of the myth differ on whether or not Iphigenia was sacrificed, with some saying she was, and others saying she was whisked away by the gods at the last second and replaced by a deer. Euripides's play ends with an epilogue indicating that Iphigenia was saved, and while that is of dubious authenticity, he had earlier written a play called Iphigenia in Tauris where she did in fact survive. In any event, this movie ends with Iphigenia disappearing into smoke at the top of the hill. The wind the Greeks have been waiting for rises, and their sails billow. Agamemnon, who has gone into the smoke himself, looks on in shock at...something offscreen.
- Human Sacrifice: Most ancient Greeks are OK with it!
- Incorruptible Pure Pureness: Iphigenia is sweet and innocent and virginal.
- Jitter Cam: Used to show the POV of the deer in the opening scene as it flees through the forest, then used again in an identical shot to show Iphigenia's POV as she flees in panic.
- Kubrick Stare: Agamemnon to Menelaus as the latter rips into the former about sacrificing his daughter.
- Morton's Fork: Agamemnon believes he is facing this once word gets out about the sacrifice. If he doesn't sacrifice his daughter, the soldiers will mutiny and kill them all anyway.
- World of Ham: Hammy over-the-top acting throughout, from just about everybody except the actress who plays Iphigenia. Probably appropriate in a film about Ancient Greek myth.
- Young Future Famous People: Orestes, Agamemnon's son and a small child, is seen and mentioned often. In mythology he grew up to be a hero who killed his mother in revenge for her killing his father.
