''Oedipus Mayor '' () is a 1996 Colombian
tragedy
A tragedy is a genre of drama based on human suffering and, mainly, the terrible or sorrowful events that befall a tragic hero, main character or cast of characters. Traditionally, the intention of tragedy is to invoke an accompanying catharsi ...
film, produced by Tomás Zapata and Jorge Sánchez, directed by
Jorge Alí Triana.
[ ] Set in strife-ridden, 20th-century Colombia, the film is a modern-day interpretation of
Sophocles
Sophocles ( 497/496 – winter 406/405 BC)Sommerstein (2002), p. 41. was an ancient Greek tragedian known as one of three from whom at least two plays have survived in full. His first plays were written later than, or contemporary with, those ...
' classical Greek tragedy ''
Oedipus Rex
''Oedipus Rex'', also known by its Greek title, ''Oedipus Tyrannus'' (, ), or ''Oedipus the King'', is an Athenian tragedy by Sophocles. While some scholars have argued that the play was first performed , this is highly uncertain. Originally, to ...
''. The film was selected as the Colombian entry for the
Best Foreign Language Film at the
69th Academy Awards
The 69th Academy Awards ceremony, organized by the Academy of Motion Picture Arts and Sciences (AMPAS) took place on March 24, 1997, at the Shrine Auditorium in Los Angeles beginning at 6:00 p.m. PST / 9:00 p.m. EST. During the ceremo ...
, but was not accepted as a nominee.
[Margaret Herrick Library, Academy of Motion Picture Arts and Sciences]
Plot
Set amidst the rebel wars (representing the Theban plagues) of contemporary Colombia, young Mayor
Edipo must mediate a peace deal between conflicting guerrilla groups and the army. It is raining when he leaves. His journey is interrupted when he gets into a shoot-out on a lonely bridge. Returning fire,
Edipo somehow escapes. As soon as he gets to town he hears that a prominent leader
Layo was brutally slain. No one knows who shot him. Meanwhile, a blind coffin-maker
Tiresias
In Greek mythology, Tiresias (; ) was a blind prophet of Apollo in Thebes, Greece, Thebes, famous for clairvoyance and for being transformed into a woman for seven years. He was the son of the shepherd Everes (mythology), Everes and the nymph ...
wanders town making dire prophecies concerning
Edipo's future. It is he who tells the mayor that
Layo was murdered by a family member.
Edipo's fate is sealed when he gets involved with the beautiful and much older
Yocasta, a woman who last had sex thirty years ago with her husband
Layo. She got pregnant and bore a son ... tragedy ensues.
Cast
*
Jorge Perugorria – Edipo
*
Ángela Molina
Ángela Molina Tejedor (born 5 October 1955) is a Spanish actress. Aside from her performances in Spanish films, she has starred in multiple international productions, particularly in a number of Italian films and television series.
Family
Mol ...
– Yocasta
*
Francisco Rabal
Francisco Rabal Valera (8 March 1926 – 29 August 2001), popularly known as Paco Rabal, was a Spanish actor. His career spanned more than 200 film and television roles, between 1942 and 2001. He received numerous accolades both in Spain and abro ...
– Tiresias
*
Jairo Camargo – Creonte
*
Jorge Martínez de Hoyos
Jorge Martínez de Hoyos (September 25, 1920 – May 6, 1997) was a Mexican actor whose career spanned five decades from the 1940s till his death. He appeared in both American and Mexican films and television, with prominent roles in ''The Magn ...
– Priest
*
Miriam Colón – Deyanira
*
Juan Sebastián Aragón – Police Commander
*
Armando Gutiérrez – Army Captain
*
Marcela Agudelo –
*
Fabiana Medina – Guerrilla Child
*
Juan Carlos Arango – AUC Commander
*
Magali Caicedo
*
Manuel José Chávez – Guerrilla Child
*
Sigifredo Vega
*
Alfonso Ortiz – Landowners
*
Héctor Rivas
*
Andrés Felipe Martínez
*
Raúl Santa
Raul, Raúl, Raül, and Raüll are forms of a common first name in Italian, Portuguese, Romanian, Spanish, Galician, Asturian, Basque, Aragonese, and Catalan. The name is cognate of the Anglo-Germanic given name Ralph or Rudolph and the French R ...
*
Salomón Vega
*
Jaime Forero
*Carlos Vega
See also
*
*
List of Colombian submissions for the Academy Award for Best Foreign Language Film
References
External links
*
1996 films
Colombian drama films
1990s Spanish-language films
1990s war films
Films based on Oedipus Rex
Films set in Colombia
Films about incest
1990s political films
Modern adaptations of works by Sophocles
{{Colombia-film-stub