Review of The Trojan Women (1971) by Alan F — 12 Jun 2009

A marvelous rendition of the Greek tragedy, this movie is a great treasure, because it actually shows the horrible aftermath of war, which is something stories and movies tend to neglect. From school, we all know that the "heroic" Greeks won the Trojan War, but seldom do we hear of the unheroic things that they did to their prisoners. Thankfully, Euripides' play has survived through the centuries, and we can now see it in film format.

Some of the choices in casting, however, are a bit questionable for the following reason: for some actors, their iconic status can overpower their roles. Such is definitely the case with Katherine Hepburn, who delivers a great rendition of Hecuba, but I could not help but often feel as if I were just watching Katherine Hepburn playing the role of Hecuba, as opposed to really being drawn into the performance and seeing her as actually being Hecuba. Vanessa Redgrave's portrayal of Andromache also falls a little short, as she does not seem to deliver a convincing enough sense of grief for the loss of her husband and young son. She says the lines well, but the true feeling of a woman put in such a position is lacking. I do applaud the talents of these two actresses in this film, but they are indeed overshadowed by their two co-stars.

Thankfully, the two other leading parts will receive nothing but praise from me, for both Irene Papas and Genevieve Bujold are great in their roles (and, interestingly enough, rather quite the opposite of what they did in the film Anne of the Thousand Days). Irene Papas displays all the proper cunning and seductive powers belonging to the selfish Helen. Her eyes are gorgeous and, she uses them with great talent to emote and portray the smug arrogance and the power Helen had over men. Genevieve Bujold's Cassandra is perhaps a bit more hysterical than I would have thought necessary, but her scene is nonetheless very powerful and stirring. The story of Cassandra is nothing short of tragic, and Ms. Bujold plays it to the hilt without going overboard.

In short, The Trojan Women is a great film for anyone who is interested in the subject matter, whether it be Greek mythology, ancient Greek literature, or the aftermath of war. It is a thinking movie, however, full of clever dialog and not so much action, so you do have to be in a certain mindset to watch it and get the most out of it. Furthermore, remember that it is a tragedy, as it was written in the fourth century BCE. Don't expect a happy ending.