Oedipus Rex (1967)
Pier Paolo Pasolini's bold, autobiographical retelling of Sophocles' ancient tragedy — a landmark of world cinema fusing myth, poetry, and personal confession.
Oedipus Rex - Movie Information
- Original Title: Edipo re
- Release Year: 1967
- Directed by: Pier Paolo Pasolini
- Type: Movie
- Genres: Drama
- Runtime: 1h 44m
- Original Language: Italian
- Spoken Languages: Italian
- Release Date (Theatrical): September 16, 1967 (Italy - VM18), December 7, 1984 (United States), December 10, 1968 (United Kingdom), June 13, 1969 (Germany - 16), October 9, 1968 (France - TP)
- Alternative Titles: Edipo, el hijo de la fortuna (ES), Oedipe roi (FR), Kung Oidipus (SE), Ơđíp (VN), Ødipus Rex (NO)
- Production Companies: Somafis, Arco Film
- Production Countries: Italy
Oedipus Rex - Plot
In pre-war Italy, a young couple have a baby boy. The father, however, is jealous of his son - and the scene moves to antiquity, where the baby is taken into the desert to be killed. He is rescued, given the name Oedipus, and brought up by the King and Queen of Corinth as their son. One day an oracle informs Oedipus that he is destined to kill his father and marry his mother. Horrified, he flees Corinth and his supposed parents - only to get into a fight and kill an older man on the road…
Oedipus Rex - Trailer
Watch the official trailer and see Pasolini's mythic vision come to life:
Pasolini's Terrifying… Compassionate… Magnificent…
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Oedipus Rex - Cast & Crew
Director(s)
- Pier Paolo Pasolini
Main Cast
- Franco Citti
- Silvana Mangano
- Alida Valli
- Carmelo Bene
- Julian Beck
- Luciano Bartoli
- Francesco Leonetti
- Ahmed Belhachmi
- Giovanni Ivan Scratuglia
- Giandomenico Davoli
Writers
- Pier Paolo Pasolini
Producers
- Alfredo Bini
Oedipus Rex - FAQs
What is Oedipus Rex (1967) about?
Pasolini's Oedipus Rex retells the ancient Greek tragedy of a man fated to kill his father and marry his mother. Framed by a modern Italian prologue and epilogue, the film transforms Sophocles' myth into a deeply personal meditation on guilt, fate, and the unconscious — one of cinema's most haunting encounters with classical tragedy.
Is Oedipus Rex based on Pasolini's own life?
Yes, to a striking degree. Pasolini openly described the film as autobiographical. The Italian prologue mirrors his own childhood, with the jealous father reflecting his fraught relationship with his own father. The myth of Oedipus became Pasolini's vehicle for exploring his personal psychology, desire, and sense of guilt.
Where can you stream Oedipus Rex (1967)?
You can stream Oedipus Rex on the Criterion Channel, which is the ideal home for this landmark of world cinema. The Criterion Channel offers curated art house and classic films, making it a natural fit for Pasolini's visually rich and intellectually demanding adaptation of Sophocles.
Why did Pasolini set the film in Morocco?
Pasolini chose Morocco's stark desert landscapes and ancient mud-brick architecture to evoke a timeless, pre-rational world stripped of classical European grandeur. The North African setting gives the film a raw, mythic quality — distant from both ancient Greece and modern Italy — reinforcing the story's universal, dreamlike power.
Who are the main actors in Oedipus Rex?
Franco Citti leads the cast as Oedipus, with Silvana Mangano as Jocasta and Alida Valli as Merope, Queen of Corinth. Carmelo Bene plays Creon, and Julian Beck portrays the blind prophet Tiresias. Pasolini himself appears in a small uncredited role as the High Priest.
How does the film's structure differ from Sophocles' original play?
Pasolini wraps the ancient myth in a modern Italian frame story set in the 1920s, opening and closing in the contemporary world. This structure transforms the tragedy into something deeply personal and psychoanalytic, suggesting that the Oedipal myth is not merely ancient history but a living force within every human psyche.
Was Oedipus Rex well received by critics?
The film earned considerable critical admiration, particularly for Pasolini's bold visual style and his daring autobiographical approach to the myth. It is now regarded as one of his most personal and accomplished works, celebrated for its striking cinematography by Giuseppe Ruzzolini and its fearless fusion of the ancient and the modern.
What makes Pasolini's visual style distinctive in this film?
Cinematographer Giuseppe Ruzzolini captures the Moroccan landscape with intense, sun-bleached colors and tight, confrontational close-ups that feel both primitive and deeply expressive. Pasolini eschews classical staging in favor of raw, ritualistic imagery — masks, processions, arid plains — creating a visual language that feels closer to sacred rite than theatrical performance.
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