Theo Angelopoulos Movies

A filmmaker looks to his family's history as the basis for a historical epic that reflects some of the most tumultuous events of the 20th Century in this grand-scale drama from Theo Angelopoulos. A. (Willem Dafoe) is a director struggling to complete shooting on his latest project, a sweeping historical story being shot in Berlin that tells the true story of his parent's relationship. Spyros (Michel Piccoli) and Eleni (Irene Jacob) first met and fell in love shortly before World War II broke out, but the two were separated during the fighting, with Spyros making his way to America and settling in New York, while civil war forced Eleni to seek exile in Russia. Stalin established a colony for Greek expatriates in Tashkent, where Eleni joined her fellow expatriates, and when Spyros learned of her whereabouts after Stalin's passing, he left New York to be with her, entering Tashkent illegally via Germany. However, after a brief reunion which led to Eleni becoming pregnant, Spyros was found out by the authorities. After Spyros was arrested, Eleni was sent to Siberia, where she met Jacob (Bruno Ganz), a German Jew. Jacob fell in love with Eleni and he stayed by her side as she wrestled with he memory of Spyros and her son, who with Jacob's help was smuggled out of Tashkent to Canada and eventually reunited with his father. It's not until years later that A. is finally reunited with his parents (as well as Jacob) in Berlin as he tries to put their story on film, but what should be a happy time becomes potentially tragic as A.'s daughter falls into a deep depression and threatens to take her life. I Skoni Tou Chronou (aka The Dust Of Time) was an official selection at the 2009 Berlin International Film Festival. ~ Mark Deming, All Movie Guide

At the time of its production, To Each His Own Cinema represented the latest arrival in a tidal wave of internationally oriented omnibus films, with no official relation between them but all produced within a few years of one another. Few could claim a roster of talent comparable to this one, which boasts contributions by 33 of the most acclaimed directors in world cinema,
each responsible for three minutes of celluloid. Gilles Jacob, president of the Cannes Festival, devised the project as a "gift" to commemorate the festival's 60th birthday, and recruited many Golden Palm winners in the directorial selection process. Simply put, Jacob asked each director to express, cinematically, his or her "state of mind of the moment as inspired by the motion picture theater." Featured filmmakers include Joel and Ethan Coen; Olivier Assayas; Atom Egoyan; Walter Salles; Lars von Trier; Nanni Moretti; Roman Polanski; Theo Angelopoulos; Chen Kaige; Andrei Konchalovsky; and many, many others. Many of the initial entries (by Angelopoulos and others) involve the neglect or disrepute into which contemporary cinema, as a collective viewing experience, has fallen; a few segments, such as the Coen Brothers' short, about a cowboy (Josh Brolin) who attempts to determine which movie he should go see in sunny Los Angeles, employ a light and whimsical approach. At the other end of the spectrum sits David Cronenberg's piece -- a brutal short in which he prepares to commit a very public and graphic suicide on television before millions of viewers. Other highlights include Moretti -- offering a typically witty divertissement on what cinema means -- and Zhang Yimou, who lyrically depicts the gathering of numerous rural children for a screening at a movie theater. ~ Nathan Southern, All Movie Guide

Theo Angelopoulos (Reconstruction) directed this 1998 Cannes Film Festival Palme d'Or winner about a famed author nearing the end of his life. Alexander (Bruno Ganz) lives in his old seaside family home near Thessaloniki, but his daughter and son-in-law plan to sell the house, slightly damaged by an earthquake. Seriously ill, Alexander thinks if he checks himself into the hospital, he'll never check out. Awash in nostalgia, he recalls his late wife, Anna (Isabelle Renauld), seen in flashback, and he lets his daughter read a letter her mother had written to him right after her birth. Alexander's current project involves completing the last unfinished work of a 19th-century poet, but he puts that aside in order to spend time finding a home for his dog. Since his son-in-law won't take the dog, Alexander gives it to his servant. After rescuing an Albanian boy (Achileas Skevis) from a gang that sells children to wealthy Greeks who can't adopt legally, Alexander intends to return the youth to his grandmother in Albania. However, the child lied, and Alexander is unaware the boy has no grandmother. The old man and the boy set forth on a journey, and the other bus passengers include several musicians and the 19th-century poet (Fabrizio Bentivoglio). Bruno Ganz was dubbed into Greek for this Greek-French-Italian co-production. ~ Bhob Stewart, All Movie Guide

Winner of the Grand Prize at the Cannes Film Festival, this drama centers on the Balkan conflict as viewed through the eyes of a filmmaker named A (Harvey Keitel). Director Theo Angelopoulos wrote the screenplay, drawing from personal experiences. A is a Greek émigré director who returns to his homeland after 35 years in the U.S., ostensibly to screen his latest film, which is so controversial that it attracts religious protests. In fact, A's real purpose is to search for three reels of undeveloped film that may be the first ever shot by pioneer Balkan filmmakers the Manakis brothers, who documented simple circa-1900 peasant life. A's Homeric journey includes flashbacks into past historical events. He travels by taxi to Albania, where he enlists the help of a film archivist (Maia Morgenstern, who plays all four female roles). She joins him on a train ride to Bucharest, Romania. An extensive flashback chronicles A's childhood under Communism in Bucharest. His next stop is Belgrade, the capital of Serbia, where he is directed to Sarajevo. Angelopoulos mixes scenes shot during the actual Balkan war with historic re-enactments and dreamscapes to examine the role of the artist in political upheaval. ~ Michael Betzold, All Movie Guide

Four countries-France, Greece, Italy and Switzerland-converged upon the production of Suspended Step of Stork. The film is set on the Greek border, where a steady stream of refugees flows on a perpetual basis. Reporter Gregory Karr thinks that he's spotted a familiar face among the anonymous throngs. It is the face of Marcello Mastroianni, cast as a politician who has long been missing and assumed dead. Karr takes it upon himself to repatriate the woebegone Mastroianni, starting with a reunion between the ex-politico and his reluctant wife Jeanne Moreau. Cowritten by director Angelopoulos, Tonio Guerra and Petros Markaris, this moving contemporary drama was originally titled To Meteoro Vima Tou Pelargoli. ~ Hal Erickson, All Movie Guide

In this compelling drama, Marcello Mastroianni gives a tour-de-force interpretation of a disillusioned middle-aged man, a bee keeper who inherited the passion for his vocation from his father. After weeping silently at the end of his daughter's wedding ceremony, Spyros (Mastroianni) leaves in his truck to check on his bee hives and in the process gets involved with a winsome young hitchhiker (Nadia Mourouzi). She makes some advances which he immediately rejects, yet it is clear that he is ambivalent about her. Next he pays his respects to the people who have meant something to him in his life: his ex-wife, an old friend, and his daughter. Each time he mysteriously truncates his visit, and the enigma of what lies unsaid deepens after he encounters the hitchhiker again. ~ Eleanor Mannikka, All Movie Guide

When an old Communist fighter from the days of the Civil War (the 1967 rightist military take over) comes back to Greece from years of exile in Russia, his denial of the past and present causes behavior that frustrates his long-estranged family. He intends to go to the island of Cythera, Aphrodite's ancient center of worship, now rather ironically a place for pensioned seniors. But as the old man joins up with his son, daughter, and wife, he refuses to cooperate with them and will often be where they least expect to find him - his behavior is erratic and they are constantly following after him. This makes his journey to Cythera about as certain as his arriving at Kafka's castle. Director Theo Angelopoulos often sets an interior world against the exterior landscape, evoking a symbolism that is not easy to grasp - yet most viewers will be captivated by what they are seeing since it is the art of the film itself that dominates over any political or social statements. ~ Eleanor Mannikka, All Movie Guide

This drama explores the activities of a small group of Greek leftists who supported a 1949 attempted left-wing takeover of their government. As they adjust to the failure of the coup, they help one another out and move on in their daily lives. One man, who was known to have betrayed one of his friends, has a particularly difficult time. ~ Clarke Fountain, All Movie Guide

Imeres Tou 36 or Days of '36 is a political and crime thriller set in Greece in 1936 and based on a true story. Concerns for political stability override concerns for justice or fair play at this chaotic time in Greek history. When the man convicted of murdering a politician protests his innocence of the crime by holding a lawman hostage in his cell, it creates a national crisis. ~ Clarke Fountain, All Movie Guide