The Giants of Thessaly (Italian: I giganti della Tessaglia (Gli Argonauti), French: Le Géant de Thessalie, released in the UK as Jason and the Golden Fleece) is a 1960 Italian-French adventure-fantasy film directed by Riccardo Freda. It is loosely based on the epic poem Argonautica by Apollonius Rhodius.
Contents
Plot
Thessaly, overrun with barbarian invaders and beset with natural disasters, sends King Jason and his Argonauts on a search for the fabled Golden Fleece. Meanwhile, back home, his scheming cohort is plotting to get his hands on the kingdom and the queen.
The film's subplots bear some resemblance to Odysseus' odyssey including a plot by a trusted lord to seize a throne from an absent king and a desire to marry the king's faithful wife. Jason and his men encounter a queen on her island of siren witches who turns seduced men into animals much like Odysseus' encounter with the sorceress Circe. There is also a struggle against a Cyclops also reminiscent of the encounter between Odysseus and Polyphemus the Cyclops son of Poseidon.
Cast
Roland Carey as Jason
Ziva Rodann as Creusa
Massimo Girotti as Orfeo
Alberto Farnese as Adrasto
Nadine Sanders as Queen Gaia
Luciano Marin as Euristeo
Cathia Caro as Aglaia
Alfredo Varelli as Argo
Maria Teresa Vianello as Gaia's Sister
Nando Tamberlani as Aglaia's Father
Alberto Sorrentino as Licaone
Paolo Gozlino as Laerte
Raf Baldassarre as Antinoo
Release
The Giants of Thessaly was released in Italy on 6 December 1960 where it was distributed by Filmar. It grossed a total of 408 million Italian lire domestically.
Reception
In a contemporary review, the Monthly Film Bulletin noted that the script "owes very little to the legend, instead stringing together a series of action highlights, settings and characters which, if anything, have even less consistency than the strip-cartoon formula to which they owe their inspiration." The review noted that the "scaling of the colossal statue is moderately spectacular, too. The rest, including the filtered colour, is sub-Bava, let down by indifferent acting, irrelevance (what on earth is Orpheus doing in the film?) unimpressive trick-work (the island monster) and abysmal dubbing."