Medea on AllMovie

Shooting entirely on analog video, Lars von Trier directs the made-for-Danish-TV version of the ancient Greek tragedy Medea by Euripides. The screenplay is based on a 1960s adaptation written by master Danish filmmaker Carl Theodor Dreyer that was never produced during his lifetime. The mythological story follows after the tale of Jason and the Argonauts, with Jason (Udo Kier) having successfully returned with the Golden Fleece and ready to marry the young Glauce (Ludmilla Glinska), daughter of King Kreon (Henning Jensen). In doing so, Jason abandons his long-suffering wife, Medea (Kirsten Olesen), who is also the mother of his two children. When the King exiles Medea, she plots a vicious plan of revenge that involves poison, hanging, and misery for all. Produced in 1987, Medea received an extremely limited theatrical release in the U.S. in April of 2003.