Malpertuis is the name of an old, rambling mansion which is in reality a labyrinth where characters from Greek mythology are imprisoned by the bedridden Cassavius (Welles). He manages to keep them (as well as his nephew and niece) prisoners even after his death, through a binding testament. As Jan, the nephew, (Carrière) unravels the mystery, he discovers that he cannot escape the house because Malpertuis is far more significant than he was led to believe.
The Trojan Women was one of a trilogy of plays dealing with the suffering created by the Trojan Wars. Hecuba (Katharine Hepburn), Queen of the Trojans and mother of Hector, one of Troy's most fearsome warriors, looks upon the remains of her kingdom; Andromache (Vanessa Redgrave), widow of the slain Hector and mother of his son Astyanax, must raise her son in the war's aftermath; Cassandra (Geneviève Bujold), Hecuba's daughter who has been driven insane by the ravages of war, waits to see if King Agamemnon will drive her into concubinage; Helen of Troy (Irene Papas), waits to see if she will live. But the most awful truth is unknown to them until Talthybius (Brian Blessed), the messenger of the Greek king, comes to the ruined city and tells them that King Agamemnon and his brother Menelaus have decreed that Hector's son Astyanax must die — the last of the male royalty of Troy must be executed to ensure the extinction of the line.
Approximately 2,500 years ago, the Athenian tragedians -- Sophocles, Aeschylus, Euripides -- said it all in the most eloquent and poetic terms. Everyone else has followed in their footsteps, from Goethe and Shakespeare to Mann and Beckett. More than ever, the ancient tragedies are relevant today, for their subject matter is the universal nature of man: his hunger for domination, his greed and his lust. The plays are the confirmation of the human tragedy for all times and all places. The Greek myths upon which these tragedies are based combine marvelous storytelling with symbolic associations that are the foundations of the collective unconscious of our modern world.
Queen Capys is doomed to a life of slavery by the Powers of Darkness until the last descendant of Ulysses is put to death to please the Cyclops. This is almost accomplished in a raid on a village by the Queen's soldiers where a descendant of Ulysses is killed and his wife enslaved; however, their infant son is taken away to be protected by Maciste.
A successful Greek filmmaker A (Harvey Keitel) is returning home and sets out on an epic journey across the battered Balkans in search of three lost reels of film by the Manaki brothers, the pioneering photographers who introduced movies into the Balkans at the beginning of the century.
Following a dispute between Jupiter and Mars the latter ascends to Earth. Together with Venus he instructs the Thracians how to erect a castle which is supposed to become more beautiful than Mount Olympus. Jupiter assigns Vulcan and Etna to find Mars. Eventually the Thracians capture Etna and torture her. Vulcan saves her life and incites the slaves of the Thracians into an uprising. Mars und Venus try to return to Olympus but Jupiter sends Mars back to Earth to be with Etna.
Thor and the Amazon Women (original title: Le Gladiatrici) is a sword and sandal picture that features a civilization of women warriors ruled by the evil Black Queen who has subjugated the men in her land. Thor and his friend Ubaratutu live in a distant village with a young blonde woman named Tamar and her young brother Homolke. Tamar’s father was the king of a seaside village who had been killed several years earlier when the Black Queen’s Amazon warriors raided the village.
The first half sums up the story of Jason and the Argonauts as they travel to Medea's barbarian land in search of the golden fleece. In fitting with the soundtrack (which features North African tribal music), Pasolini depicts Medea's people as a tribal people who perform rituals and sacrifices to secure their harvests. Their costumes and dances are based on those of Eastern European Mummers such as the Romanian Calusari ceremonies and their counterparts in the Balkans.
Le film est une captation d'une représentation des Bacchantes d'Euripide par la troupe théâtrale Performance Group, mise en scène par Richard Schechner. L'écran est divisé en deux par le système de l'écran divisé, montrant d'un côté la scène, de l'autre le public qui assiste à la représentation.
En 1969, Pasolini voyage à travers la Tanzanie et l’Ouganda à la recherche des décors et des personnages de son prochain film : une adaptation de L'Orestie" d’Eschyle dans l’Afrique contemporaine. Il commente à voix haute, interroge les visages, les paysages, les situations et lit de larges et significatifs passages d’Eschyle.
Il confronte ses idées, ses notes de voyage avec un groupe d’étudiants africains installés à l’université de Rome. Le film ne verra jamais le jour, mais ces notes filmées (et montées) par le cinéaste offrent une médiation sur l’indépendance, les promesses de la démocratie et le passage de l’âge archaïque à la civilisation moderne.