While filming this minimalist epic, Lars von Trier claimed to be in psychic communication with the late Carl Theodor Dreyer (The Passion of Joan of Arc), on whose screenplay the film is based. This brilliantly original exploration of the dark passions of a woman scorned unfolds in shimmering North Sea marshlands and gloomy subterranean passageways. Shot on video for Danish television, von Trier's Medea is a haunting work of mythic realism, using available light and digital cameras to achieve a purposefully washed out, grainy aesthetic. "Exhilarating" (Chicago Reader). Loosely adapted from the play by Euripides. Udo Kier and Kirsten Olesen star. In Danish with English subtitles.

Lars von Trier---Denmark---1987---76 mins.