Wow! What an amazing film! The story of 3 women. The first woman is of course Medea. She was the daughter of Aeetes, who she defied in order to help Jason retrieve the Golden Fleece. In lieu of her help, Jason promised to take her away with him & to marry her. However, after 10 years of marriage, Jason decided to leave Medea & marry the king's daughter. Medea & her sons were to be banished from the kingdom. Furious at her husband's deception, unable to return to her father & denied justice of any kind, she hurt Jason in the only possible way she could.
The other woman is Maya, the actress who is playing Medea on stage. In order to generate public interest in her play, she meets Brenda, a convict who is serving a prison sentence for killing her own children in order to punish a cheating husband who deserted her. The publicity stunt goes horribly wrong but Maya returns again to see Brenda. Maya's life is also rife with personal tragedies & regrets. Finding herself pregnant at a very young age, the aspiring actress resented her unborn child & aborted it. She still feels guilty for the same. So, Maya struggles to identify with Medea, the woman who killed her own children. Hence, she visits Brenda repeatedly to understand her motivations.
Meeting Branda confuses Maya at first because Brenda seems like a composed woman who still believes that her actions were justified. Turns out she even refused to plead insanity to explain her actions even if that could have reduced her prison sentence. Later, Brenda tells her tale & describes to Maya how difficult it was for her to really follow through with her plan. Maya is now better equipped to deal with her role & does such a good job that the parallels between Medea's & Brenda's stories come out beautifully. In a manner similar to Bergman's 'Persona' (the film includes a scene from the movie too), the actress inhabits the role of the character so completely that the viewer sometimes feel that Maya is Brenda.
In conclusion, this is high art indeed! Before seeing this film, I never really understood Medea's motivations. And even though I still can't bring myself to condone her actions, I can at least acknowledge that she was a victim too.
The other woman is Maya, the actress who is playing Medea on stage. In order to generate public interest in her play, she meets Brenda, a convict who is serving a prison sentence for killing her own children in order to punish a cheating husband who deserted her. The publicity stunt goes horribly wrong but Maya returns again to see Brenda. Maya's life is also rife with personal tragedies & regrets. Finding herself pregnant at a very young age, the aspiring actress resented her unborn child & aborted it. She still feels guilty for the same. So, Maya struggles to identify with Medea, the woman who killed her own children. Hence, she visits Brenda repeatedly to understand her motivations.
Meeting Branda confuses Maya at first because Brenda seems like a composed woman who still believes that her actions were justified. Turns out she even refused to plead insanity to explain her actions even if that could have reduced her prison sentence. Later, Brenda tells her tale & describes to Maya how difficult it was for her to really follow through with her plan. Maya is now better equipped to deal with her role & does such a good job that the parallels between Medea's & Brenda's stories come out beautifully. In a manner similar to Bergman's 'Persona' (the film includes a scene from the movie too), the actress inhabits the role of the character so completely that the viewer sometimes feel that Maya is Brenda.
In conclusion, this is high art indeed! Before seeing this film, I never really understood Medea's motivations. And even though I still can't bring myself to condone her actions, I can at least acknowledge that she was a victim too.