My weekly Tolkien thread has been called on account of lameness. Instead I’d like to discuss noteworthy adaptations of mythological or legendary tales.
Noteworthy can mean purely wonderful, like the musical I’ll bring up in the next paragraph; or it can mean utterly vile, like Troy, about which the best I can say is that the only animal harmed during the production was Brad Pitt’s horse, who, upon faced with the horror it had helped created, flung itself in front of a train.
My own nomination is the 1999 musical Marie Christine. Starring Audra McDonald, this is an adaptation of the story of Medea from Greek myth. It moves the story to the early 20th-century, exchanging New Orleans for Colchis and Chicago for Corinth. Medea becomes Marie Christine, a Creole aristocrat whose mother taught her magic and who is bridling at her brothers control & sexist-contempt; Jason becomes Dante Keyes, a handsome and faithless white sailor from Chicago. But no text summary can capture the brilliance and imagination of the score, lyrics, book, and singing. As in the myth, Marie/Medea’s story with an act of almost unspeakable evil:
When Dante determines to leave her for a white woman, she punishes him by murdering not merely her rvial, but also their two young sons, deliberately leaving Dante alive so that he can suffer more.
McDonald, incredibly, makes Marie as compelling and sympathetic as she is horrifying and evil.
Anyhow, that’s just me. What adapations of mythological stories stand out in your mind, and why? They can be literary, filmed, dramatic, or any other medium.
Well there was The Fisher King, and you could say that movies like The Jerk and Brewster’s Millions are adaptations of King Midas (though probably this was unintentional.)
The Matrix could be taken as a King Arthur story.
A straightforward (and quite good adaptation) of King Arthur is the movie Avalon, made by the guy who the Wachowski brothers ripped off when they made the Matrix.
Personally, I would love to see a remake of the stories of David and Solomon from the Bible re-made as a “Godfather” style mafia movie. The dialogue is just perfect for that.
Like the scene where David tells Solomon to carry out hits on all of his old enemies, including the ones he claimed to foregive - he’s more of a “wise guy” than a “wise man”, it would seem:
Ofelas (US title: Pathfinder). Based on a story from Lapp mythology.
Hrafninn flýgur (US title: Revenge of the Barbarians). Not technically myth, it’s actually Yojimbo or Fist Full of Dollars, but with Vikings.
Snow White: A Tale of Terror. Sigourney Weaver plays the Wicked Witch. And when she casts spells, she uses sympathetic magic techniques that an anthropologist would recognize.
I’m not sure you’re clear on the meaning of the word “mythological.” It does not equal “classical” or “famous” or “old.”
The Fisher King I’ll agree on, though it’s more a usage of a mytholgical/legendary motif than an adaptation. The Matrix I just can’t see; by the same logic, we should call Superman: The Movie an adaptation of the book of Exodus. Can you explain what you mean?
Well figure that there’s the One Hero who needs to be found to unite the People against the Invaders (Saxons/Machines.) But when he is found, he must be proved to be the One. Fortunately there is a magical woman (Lady of the Lake/The Oracle) who will know him. The man who will be the hero’s greatest adviser (Merlin/Morpheus) will be the one to find the unsuspecting hero and then train him. One of the One’s allies (Mordred/Cypher) will betray him to his enemies.
Outside of the Zion/Camelot and heroic death leading to his body being taken away to unknown locale, there’s perhaps not any further link with the Arthur legend in the following movies.
On thsi world, no sequels to the Matrix were made. Keanu Reaves, in a rare triumph of discernment over cupidity, simply refused. The movies you allude to fell through an interdimensional rift from Apokalips, where they are considered great movies…but Darkseid’s standards.
