Photographed in brilliant color in Syria, Turkey, and Italy, Pasolini's Medea is an exotic and controversial reconstruction of the Greek legend featuring Maria Callas in her first and only film. Her Medea is a magnificent creature from a ritualistic background-the barbaric, magical world of her native Colchis-who finds herself in a strange, materialistic world when she is brought by Jason and the Argonauts to Corinth and the court of Creon. Her struggle between the two worlds-between myth and reason, nature and civilization-drives Medea to cause the death of Creon's daughter and to kill her own two sons. “Pasolini has emphasized the regal mystery and sultry brooding of Medea, and by the arid chug-rubble of grotesque rocks, Piero Tosi's elaborate costumes, and delicate Oriental strains in the air, Maria Callas performs with striking authority and tragic awareness. The processes of savage ritual and demonic incantations are ever-present” (Albert Johnson).