''Fedra'' (stylized as ''FΣDRA'' during the initial credits) is a 1956 Spanish

drama film In film and television, drama is a category or genre of narrative fiction (or semi-fiction) intended to be more serious than humorous in tone. Drama of this kind is usually qualified with additional terms that specify its particular super ...

directed by

Manuel Mur Oti Manuel Mur Oti (25 October 1908 – 5 August 2003) was a Spanish screenwriter and film director.Bentley p.127 He also acted in one film, the neorealist '' Segundo López'' (1953). Selected filmography * '' Four Women'' (1947) * '' Guest of D ...

and starring

Emma Penella Manuela Ruiz Penella (2 March 1931 – 27 August 2007), better known as Emma Penella, was a Spanish film and television actress. Biography Manuela Ruiz Penella was born on 2 March 1931 in Madrid, the child of far-right politician Ramón ...

Enrique Diosdado Enrique Diosdado (May 6, 1910 – December 1, 1983) was a Spanish actor. He is sometimes credited as Enrique Alvarez Diosdado. Diosdado was a leading man of Argentine and Spanish films of the 1940s and 1950s. His daughter, Ana Diosdado, was a lea ...

and Vicente Parra.Mira p.237

Synopsis

The story is based in

Seneca the Younger Lucius Annaeus Seneca the Younger (; 65 AD), usually known mononymously as Seneca, was a Stoic philosopher of Ancient Rome, a statesman, dramatist, and, in one work, satirist, from the post-Augustan age of Latin literature. Seneca was born in ...

's tragedy '' Phaedra''. A pretty and untamed girl named Estrella does not fit in her fishing village by the Spanish Mediterranean. She is lusted after by the men and despised by the women. She is pretended by Juan, a rich shipowner from the North. However she falls in love with Fernando, a subordinate of Juan's, wo loves horses and dislikes the seaside. Her advances are rejected by Fernando. Estrella accepts marrying Juan, who has established himself in the village to be closer to her. Then she learns that Fernando is Juan's son from an earlier marriage. The wedding features the

Midsummer Midsummer is a celebration of the season of summer usually held at a date around the summer solstice. It has pagan pre-Christian roots in Europe. The undivided Christian Church designated June 24 as the feast day of the early Christian martyr ...

bonfires. Estrella and Fernando jump the fire and dance with the village couples. Later, Juan has to take to sea. Fernando wishes to leave but stays until his return. In the summer night, Estrella tries to get closer to him. Fernando ends up escaping for several days. The villagers has seen Estrella chasing Fernando in her nightdress and rumor of infidelity spreads. Juan's ship returns because of a storm. Fernando announces he will leave. Estrella confronts him in the ruins where he keeps his horses, begging for him to take her. Fernando rejects her and lashes her. Juan is asked by the villagers to use his motor boat ''Fedra'' to rescue the other fishing vessels. He takes Fernando with him, thinking he has abused his stepmother. Fernando falls overboard in the storm and Juan's ship sets to find him. Meanwhile, the women of the village chase Estrella until she falls off a cliff. After the storm calms, the ship sights Fernando's body. Estrella, who has survived her fall, swims toward him and sinks with him.

Cast

as Estrella *

as Don Juan * Vicente Parra as Fernando *

Manuel de Juan Manuel may refer to: People * Manuel (name) * Manuel (Fawlty Towers), a fictional character from the sitcom ''Fawlty Towers'' * Charlie Manuel, manager of the Philadelphia Phillies * Manuel I Komnenos, emperor of the Byzantine Empire * Manu ...

as Matías *

Raúl Cancio Raúl Cancio (18 September 1911 – 23 October 1961) was a Spanish film actor, screenwriter and film director. Cancio acted in more than sixty five films including '' Raza'' (1942).Pavlović p.67 He also directed two films, a 1952 documentary an ...

as Vicente *

Rafael Calvo Rafael Luis Calvo Muñoz (30 December 1911 – 9 December 1988) was a Spanish film actor. He appeared in more than 60 films including ''Miracle of Marcelino'' (1955). Selected filmography * '' Currito of the Cross'' (1926) * '' Doña Juana'' ( ...

as Pedro * Porfiria Sanchíz as Rose * Alfonso Rojas as Souto * Ismael Elma as Ismael *

Xan das Bolas Tomás Ares Pena, known as Xan das Bolas (30 October 1908 – 13 September 1977) was a Spanish comic actor active during the franquism with films including ''Botón de ancla ''Anchor Button'' (Spanish: ''Botón de ancla'') is a 1961 Spanis ...

* Mariano del Cacho * José Riesgo

References

Bibliography

* Mira, Alberto. ''Historical Dictionary of Spanish Cinema''. Scarecrow Press, 2010.

External links

* 1956 films 1956 drama films Spanish drama films 1950s Spanish-language films Films directed by Manuel Mur Oti Suevia Films films Phaedra Films based on works by Euripides Works based on Hippolytus (play) Modern adaptations of works by Euripides 1950s Spanish films Adaptations of works by Seneca the Younger Spanish black-and-white films {{1950s-Spain-film-stub