Revolutionary in form as well as content, Electra, My Love is one of the great Miklós Jancsó's finest works. Shot in twelve beautiful, intricately choreographed long takes by cinematographer János Kende, and expressing political ideas that were forbidden in 1970s Hungary, it is a searing exposé of oppression and the abuse of power.
Jancsó here radically reworks the ancient Greek myth as Electra (seeking revenge for the murder of her father, the former king) attempts to rouse a cowardly and apathetic population against the rule of usurper tyrant Aegisthus. Jancsó's film examines issues of law, justice and power; the deliberate distortion of myth and reality reflects the horror that Hungary endured through the twentieth century. A provocative call to arms against any system that rules without justice, this film continues to resonate powerfully today.
Available on both Blu-Ray and DVD formats, Electra, My Love is presented from the brand new 2K restoration of the film by the Hungarian Digital Archive and Film Institute, supervised by the film’s cinematographer János Kende, with special features including the featurette 'The Evolution of the Long Take' with János Kende in conversation, and a booklet featuring an essay by Hungarian cinema specailist Peter Hames.
1975 Cannes Film Festival / Official Selection 1975 Chicago International Film Festival / Winner: Silver Hugo
"A parable for the idea that revolutionaries must continually renew themselves" Miklós Jancsó
"A beautiful visual experience in its own terms... dazzling and powerfully refined" Peter Day, Sight & Sound, Autumn 1975
"There are two main levels in Jancsó's enthralling reinvention of the Elektra myth as a fable of permanent revolution. One is the troubling analysis of people's capacity for submission to tyranny; the other is a triumphant celebration of the 'firebird' revolution, reborn daily with the rising sun. Grounding the political fable in the story of Elektra and Orestes' revenge on their father's murderer, Aegisthus, gives it an implicit psychoanalytical dimension of a kind new in Jancsó's work. The film's balletic and musical elements are even more central than they are in Red Psalm: the rhapsody of song and dance replaces conventional dramatic exposition, leaving Jancsó free to explore the dialectical cross-currents of his subject. It's mesmerising." Tony Rayns, Time Out Film Guide
"Represents the quintessence of Jancsó's work in the 1970s" John Cunningham, Hungarian Cinema: From coffee house to multiplex, 2004
"In this rarely seen tour de force, Jancso re-envisions the Euripides drama as an experimental theatre-dancework, performed by hordes of metaphoric extras on the windblown Hungarian plains. In this superhumanly gorgeous movie, even the flocks of birds obey the laws of composition, and the age-old revenge myth acquires a hulking machine's chilling inevitability." Michael Atkinson, Village Voice
"Jancso was an expert in the symbolic expression of forbidden political ideas... Jancso was aware of the problems of making Art under the aegis of a repressive regime and presents Electra as the living embodiement of a sort of collective political unconscious... history surges from the festivities like a nightmare from which Hungarians hadn't yet awakened." Richard Brody, The New Yorker
"Aesthetically similar to Red Psalm and as invigorating in its call to action, Jancso's distortion of myth and reality is set amongst serene open grasslands and pastoral vistas, but drenched in blood and militaristic imagery." Sally Jane Black, Letterboxd
Extras
Presented from the brand new 2K restoration of the film by the Hungarian Digital Archive and Film Institute, supervised by the film’s cinematographer János Kende.
The Evolution of the Long Take - a featurette with János Kende in conversation.
16-page booklet featuring a substantial essay by author and film programmer Peter Hames.
