Medea

In a time when freed from his often ridiculous and equally profound yet pretentious "Dogma 95" limitations, Lars von Trier proves to be a remarkable image maker. Made for Danish television in the late 80's, von Trier took an unpublished script by Denmark's greatest filmmaker, Carl Dreyer, based on the tragedy of Euripides, and makes a stark masterwork of sorts. Medea is married to Greek king Jason (of the Argonaut's fame) with their two boys, but Jason has fallen in love with a younger woman (for both political and sexual purposes), and wants to rid himself of his wife. Enraged at this betrayal, she makes a move worthy of Shakespeare, or I suppose Greek tragedy, and poisons the new queen's crown which sets in motion a string of deaths. Sparse dialogue, stark imagery, and a strong performance by Udo Kier as Jason help raise this film to a level that I was unaware von Trier ever attempted (or was capable of, for that matter). The climactic scene in which Medea hangs her two children to prevent them from being captured is horrifying, and one that makes me question her worth. If the film is attempting to show the ramification of vengeance and selfishness, then it works well; however, I got the impresson that the titular character was intended to by martyr of sorts, and that I was asked to sympathize with her. Well, I think Jason was a bit of an ass to leave her cold as he did, but I can't honestly sympathize with a woman who sets in motion a string of death leading to her own children, all for selfishly vindictive reasons. Nevertheless, this may be von Trier's most artistically satisfying film.