Costume and Character: Danilo Donati / Pasolini's 'Oedipus Rex' (1967)

Some more costume designed by Italian costume designer Danilo Donati, this time looking at headgear for Pier Paolo Pasolini's 'Oedipus Rex' (1967).  The costumes here share a non-naturalistic aesthetic with those in Fellini's 'Roma', but the effect is quite different.  Here, there is an improvised feel, as if made with a low budget and out of a limited range of available materials.  This helps to give a unique look to the film (note the 'false beard' of Oedipus as well as the unusual crowns) - at once basic and primitive but also unmistakably modern.  Along with the black and white inter-titles used throughout, and the references to modernity in the midst of antiquity, the film has strong elements of Brecht's alienation effect.

The ancient Greek myth of Oedipus is a familiar one.  Oedipus, the king's son, is abandoned as a baby and left to die in the wilderness because of a prophecy that he will kill and replace the king.  He is rescued by a shepherd.  Later in life, he kills the king (not knowing that he is the king, and his original father) in an argument over right of way, and then goes on to solve the riddle of the tyrannical Sphinx and to marry the queen (who doesn't know Oedipus is her son, nor the murderer of the king).  In the fullness of time he finds out what he has done - killed his father the king and married the his mother, the queen.  This shocking revelation causes Oedipus to put out his own eyes, and return to the wilderness in repentance and shame.

Here's a clip of Pasolini's treatment of the story:

There's a good article on Senses of Cinema website about Pasolini here.