
Antigone/Rites of Passion
With Amy Greenfield, Bertram Ross, Janet Eilber.
US, 1991, 35mm, color, 85 min.
Dancer-choreographer-filmmaker Amy Greenfield addresses Sophocles’ tragedy of family honor, guilt, and revenge in a wholly novel adaptation the Los Angeles Times has called "dazzling, demanding, bold [and] triumphantly ambitious." Playing Antigone, Greenfield acts alongside the great modern dancer and partner of Martha Graham, Bertram Ross. Stripping the plot line to essentials, Greenfield employs her personal film-dance vocabulary to create a cinematic and strongly feminist interpretation of the Antigone drama, transforming it into an original fusion of movement and visual acting set against stunning natural and architectural locations. By attempting "to bring the life behind the words onto the screen," Greenfield mines new meanings from the story of Oedipus’ daughter. The film’s spare voice-over is dynamically complemented by the work of contemporary composers Glenn Branca, Diamanda Galas, Paul Lemos, Elliot Sharp, and David Van Tieghem.