A Dream of Passion

Production: Brenfilm/Melina. Director Jules Dassin; Producer Jules Dassin; Screenplay Jules Dassin; Camera George Arvanitis; Editor George Klotz; Music Iannis Markopoulos; Art Director Dionysis Fotopoulos
Crew: (Color) Available on VHS. Extract of a review from 1978. Running time: 110 MIN.
With: Melina Mercouri Ellen Burstyn Andreas Voutsinas Despo Diamantidou Dimitris Papamichael Yannis Voglis

March 07, 2024

Two older women are caught up in a strange parallel. One, Melina Mercouri, is a film star who returns to her native Greece to do Med ea on stage. The other, Ellen Burstyn, is an American living in Greece who has killed her three children 'just as Medea did' due to her husband's flaunting of her love and needs.

Two older women are caught up in a strange parallel. One, Melina Mercouri, is a film star who returns to her native Greece to do Med ea on stage. The other, Ellen Burstyn, is an American living in Greece who has killed her three children ‘just as Medea did’ due to her husband’s flaunting of her love and needs.

A misguided public relations idea, having Burstyn talk to Mercouri after seeing no one for a long time, backfires when photogs and press burst in. While Burstyn screams invectives, Mercouri feels cheapened, guilty and decides to take an interest in the case. She sees Burstyn again and gets her story.

Pic alternates two stories, as Mercouri’s life and work are intertwined with her growing interest in Burstyn.

Burstyn is shattering as a religious, partially-educated woman caught up in a foreign land. At the end, Burstyn bursts into hysterical tears, which are intercut with Mercouri’s dramatic finale in which she kills Medea’s children in the play.

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