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PERSEPHONE The short film PERSEPHONE by Laurent Rejto is a modern retelling of the Greek myth. It's a story of divorce and how two parents cope to share their most beloved daughter just as she is growing into a woman. Demeter will be portrayed by Academy-Award winning actor Melissa Leo (The Fighter, Frozen River, 21 Grams). She rules over the gardens and all the land at Mount Olympus (the arboretum at Blithewood Mansion). The story begins on a perfect day in August. Demeter has gathered her brothers Zeus (the county executive) and Poseidon (who's usually sailing off to some island) with a few friends for her daughter Persephone's sixteenth birthday. Persephone, portrayed by Lindsay Andretta (Far From Heaven) is not cooperating with her mother's plans. As a rebellious teenager, she would rather be anywhere but at home at Mount Olympus and she refuses to dress according to her mother's wishes. She steals away to the arboretum and looks out over the River Styx yearning to travel and explore life away from the trappings of home. Hades (Gilles Malkine) Demeter's ex-husband makes matters worse. He arrives at Mount Olympus in his red convertible after years of estrangement, for his daughter's birthday celebration. When he learns about her yearning to be elsewhere, he hatches a plan to take her away. Hades surreptitiously steals away with his daughter across the River Styx to his estate in the underworld. There, she discovers a world filled with costumes, masks, color, temptation and spectacle. Hades spoils her with anything she wants. Persephone enjoys the power she has in the underworld but she starts to miss her mother and the beauty of Mount Olympus. Demeter is tormented by her daughter's disappearance. She suspects Hades but is unable to find any recourse. Her distress and anger are evident as summer ends. The trees lose their leaves and the earth is enveloped in snow and ice. Zeus realizes that he needs to help his sister recover her daughter. He sends his brother Poseidon to the underworld to broker a deal with Hades - they will share custody. When Persephone is reunited with Demeter, summer has returned in all its glory but as the story comes to an end, we see Hades driving towards Mount Olympus. The trees have turned orange and red and he is coming back to take his daughter Persephone - Queen of the underworld. |
