Antigone (1974)

• 41% of users liked it
  (1,008 ratings)

French playwright Jean Anouilh's modernized version of the classic Greek tragedy Antigone sets the story in the sleek palace of a fascist state ruled by Creon (veteran stage actor Fritz Weaver). His niece Antigone (Geneviève Bujold, Dead Ringers) is horrified by Creon's order that the body of… More French playwright Jean Anouilh's modernized version of the classic Greek tragedy Antigone sets the story in the sleek palace of a fascist state ruled by Creon (veteran stage actor Fritz Weaver). His niece Antigone (Geneviève Bujold, Dead Ringers) is horrified by Creon's order that the body of her brother--who led a rebellion against the state--be left on the battlefield to rot. When she violates the edict, guards haul her before Creon, who struggles to convince her that his reasons are honorable, despite the ugly consequences, but Antigone remains steadfast, even though her death will result. The great strength of Antigone is that there is no easy solution to the conflict, which leads to disaster for everyone involved. Bujold glows as the obsessed, martyrlike Antigone; Weaver brings passion to Creon's mixture of reason and tyranny; and Stacy Keach (Fat City) plays the narrating Chorus with a weary, ironic detachment. --Bret Fetzer