Film Info
Mal nascida

Film Information

Exhibition Title	Mal nascida
Original Title	Mal nascida
English Title	Misbegotten
Director	João Canijo
Country
Year	2007
Format	35 mm
Colour	Color
Duration	117'

Cast:

Intérpretes / Cast: Anabela Moreira, Márcia Breia, Fernando Luís, Gonçalo Waddington, Tiago Rodrigues

Production:

Dirección / Director: João Canijo
Guión / Scriptwriter: João Canijo, Céline Pouillon,
Mayanna von Ledebur
Fotografía / Cinematography: Mário Castanheira
Edición / Editing: João Braz
Producción / Producer: Paulo Branco
Compañía Productora / Production Company: Clap Filmes

dates & times ticket

tickets

Synopsis

A rock-hard film shot in a remote region of inland Portugal, Mal Nascida is a modern take on Electra that contains different versions of it, from Sophocles to Marguerite Yourcenar. This transposition of Electra is surprisingly faithful to classical myths and tragedies, and in fact the only character who is missing is the younger sister, Chrisothemis. Thus, we have young Electra (an impressive performance by Anabela Moreira) who is thirsty for vengeance after the murder of her father; the killers: her mother Clytemnestra, and her stepfather Aegisthus; and her brother Orestes, who returns to carry out the vengeance and atonement. We also have her friend Pylades, and of course the Chorus (the village idiot, who plays the accordion). There are also references to an older daughter, Iphigenia, who has been sacrificed. Even in the film’s hardness, the peak of violence takes place when the two siblings, Electra and Orestes, are shown having explicit sex. Incest is the ultimate tragic issue, but also the scene between Electra and Orestes sheds light on some of Canijo’s earlier films.

Augusto M. Seabra