The Weeping Meadow

“mektubun gelişini çadırımda yalnız başıma sarhoş olarak kutladım. seni düşünerek ağladım Eleni. seni unuttuğumdan şikayet etmişsin. bu nasıl olabilir? bunca yıl seni düşünmeden geçen bir saniyem bile olmadı.”

Hypnotic.

"bu çayır dedi yaşlı adam; nehrin kaynağıdır. sen uzandın ve ıslak çimlere dokundun. elini kaldırdığında birkaç damla yuvarlandı ve gözyaşları gibi toprağa düştü."

(Viewed on 26/10/12): Beautifully shot film that captures a nation's turbulence through the eyes of a fractured family, illuminating their struggle against adversity in elegant long takes of meticulously composed frames in almost mud tones. There are a few stunning sequences, like a village slowly submerged in water and a floating funeral procession, but the story is too simple to justify such a laboriously stylized treatment, and it lacks the complexity of Angelopoulos' other historical works.

weeping eleni

like a photography lesson

"A work of Olympian aloofness." - Ed Gonzalez

I loved a lot about this film. It's almost entirely constructed out of beautifully staged, long, complex takes that are a joy to watch. It's really a mesmerizing thing of beauty. However, I found it extremely difficult to follow. I think some of this is due to my not being Greek, but not all of it. It has a tendency to jump forward years in time without telling you how long the jump is, or frequently that a jump has even happened.

rewatch

Visually impressive, but script is poor and there is no character development whatsoever. Character of Alexandra Aidini has only two emotions - sadness and fear. Aesthetics of suffering and beatiful scenes are not a reason to follow for 160 minutes.