Anaparastasi

Reconstruction

Forum 50 2020

Tymphaia, a village in the foothills of the Pindus mountain in Greece; people have lived here since the classic age. The population ran to 1250 inhabitants in 1939, but by 1965, only 85 remained. An off-screen narrator opens the film with a sober description of the setting. And Theo Angelopoulos also presents a sober reconstruction of a crime committed here, seemingly out of passion. Is this a retelling of the timeless story of Clytemnestra murdering her husband, or is this act of violence connected to the socioeconomic conditions in the barren mountain village, revealed by the figures listed at the start of the film? Jumping between different time periods, Angelopoulos’s virtuoso feature debut explicitly avoids answering this question, allowing it to hang in the air instead by juxtaposing the crime with documentary-like impressions of living conditions in the village. Giorgos Arvanitis’s black-and-white images lend additional severity to the wintery impressions of a dying community.

by Theo Angelopoulos
with Toula Stathopoulou, Yannis Totsikas, Thanos Gammenos, Petros Hoedas, Mihalis Fotopoulos, Yannis Balaskas Greece 1970 Greek 98’ Black/White

With

Toula Stathopoulou (Eleni)
Yannis Totsikas (Hristos Gikas)
Thanos Gammenos (Eleni's Brother)
Petros Hoedas (Investigator)
Mihalis Fotopoulos (Kostas Gousis)
Yannis Balaskas (Policeman)

Crew

Director	Theo Angelopoulos
Screenplay	Theo Angelopoulos, Stratis Karras, Thanasis Valtinos
Cinematography	Giorgos Arvanitis
Editing	Takis Davlopoulos
Art Director	Mikes Karapiperis
Producer	Giorgis Samiotis

Produced by

Giorgis Samiotis

Theo Angelopoulos

Born in Athens in 1935. After studying Film at the Institut des hautes études cinématographiques (IDHEC) in Paris, he worked as a journalist and film critic from 1964 to 1967. His films deal with historical and existential themes. From the 1970s onwards, he ranked amongst the most important European auteurs. Angelopoulos was a guest of the Berlin International Film Festival on several occasions, including as a member of the international jury in 1978. He died in 2012.

Filmography

1968 Ekpombi; 22 min. 1970 Anaparastasi (Rekonstruktion); 100 min. 1972 Meres tou '36 (Die Tage von 36); 105 min. 1975 O thiassos (The Travelling Actors / Die Wanderschauspieler); 230 min., Forum 1990 1977 Oi kynigoi (Die Jäger); 168 min. 1980 O Megalexandros (Der große Alexander); 210 min. 1983 Athina, epistrofi stin Akropoli; 43 min. 1984 Taxidi sta Kythira (Die Reise nach Kythera); 120 min. 1986 O melissokomos (Der Bienenzüchter); 122 min. 1988 Topio stin omichli (Landscape In The Mist / Landschaft im Nebel); 127 min., Forum 1989 1991 To meteoro vima tou pelargou (Der schwebende Schritt des Storches); 143 min. 1995 To vlemma tou Odyssea (Der Blick des Odysseus); 176 min. 1998 Mia aioniotita kai mia mera (Die Ewigkeit und ein Tag); 137 min. 2003 Trilogia: To livadi pou dakrisi (Trilogy: The Weeping Meadow / Trilogie: Die Erde weint); 170 min., Competition 2004, Special 2012 2008 I skoni tou chronou (The Dust of Time); 125 min., Competition (out of competition) 2009

Bio- & filmography as of Berlinale 2020