Medea

Medea is Pier Paolo Pasolini's adaptation of the Greek tragedy by Euripides, centering on the sorceress Medea and her relationship with Jason. Jason, son of King Aison, seeks the Golden Fleece in the distant land of Colchis so he can reclaim the throne his uncle Pelias took from him. There he meets Medea, daughter of the local ruler, who falls in love with him, helps him take the fleece and flees with him. Settling in his homeland, they marry and have two children, but ambition pulls Jason away from his family toward a new marriage with Glauce, the young daughter of Creon, king of Corinth. Betrayed, Medea turns her magic toward a terrible revenge.

Pasolini also wrote the screenplay, and the film, released in late 1969, was his tenth feature as a director, following Pigsty earlier that year. It is the only screen appearance by opera singer María Callas, who plays Medea; Giuseppe Gentile plays Jason, Massimo Girotti appears as Creon, and Laurent Terzieff, Margareth Clémenti and Paul Jabara round out the cast of twenty-four credited performers. Italian, French and German companies produced the roughly two-hour film.

Reception was mixed. On IMDb the audience rating stands at 6.6 out of 10 from a small number of votes, and on TMDB it holds the same 6.6 from 194 votes, while a critics' rating of 6.1 from 11 reviews places professional opinion somewhat below viewer response.