Trilogy - The Weeping Meadow
2004
The Weeping Meadow is the first part in a celluloid trilogy that spans a wide-ranging historical panorama. In 1919, as Greek refugees flee Odessa and the invading Red Army for their homeland, the story of the forbidden love affair between a beautiful young Eleni and Alexis begins. After giving birth to twin sons, the couple .. Read more
| Starring | Alexandra Aidini, Nikos Poursadinis, Giorgos Armenis, Vassilis Kolovos |
|---|---|
| Director | Theo Angelopoulos |
| Genres | Drama |
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Trilogy - The Weeping Meadow
The Weeping Meadow is the first part in a celluloid trilogy that spans a wide-ranging historical panorama. In 1919, as Greek refugees flee Odessa and the invading Red Army for their homeland, the story of the forbidden love affair between a beautiful young Eleni and Alexis begins. After giving birth to twin sons, the couple elope to Thessaloniki in an attempt to start anew...
| Starring | Alexandra Aidini, Nikos Poursadinis, Giorgos Armenis, Vassilis Kolovos, Toula Stathopoulou, Thalia Argiriou, Grigoris Evangelatos |
|---|---|
| Director | Theo Angelopoulos |
| Studio | ARTIFICIAL EYE |
| Run time | DVD: 2 hrs 42 mins |
| Certificate | |
| Genres | Drama |
| Language | DVD: Greek |
| Subtitles | DVD: English |
| Released | DVD: 27 Jun 2005 Production year: 2004 |
| Format | DVD |
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Critics' reviews (6)
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Despite its surfeit of glorious images, the first part of Theo Angelopoulos's projected “Greek exile” trilogy revisits too many of his earlier themes in too superficial a manner to wholly engross. Following Alexandra Aidini, a Greek refugee from Russia who has been orphaned by the Bolshevik revolution, this spans 30 tumultuous years of history. Fleeing an arranged marriage to Vasilis Kolovos, Aidini embarks on a star-crossed romance with Kolovos's son that is strewn with classical references. While the plight of the interwar refugee is ably explored, the pursuit of the lovers by the vengeful Kolovos is swamped by momentous historical events that pass before their significance can be fully understood. Echoes of European maestros Miklos Jancso and Andrzej Wajda abound in cinematographer Andreas Sinanos's evocative Thessalonikan vistas, making this impressive but impervious film-making.
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This, the characteristically epic first instalment of Greek maestro Theo Angelopouloss projected trilogy about the... read more on Time Out
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Most helpful member's review
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14 out of 14 people found this review helpful
A film of raw feelings - beautifully made.
This is definately not a feel-good film other than the beautifull way it is presented (setting, music and acting).
It is on a par with Schindlers list but set in Greece&Thessaloniki between 1919 and World War 2.
It shows a glimpse of the unfairness of life during and around World War 1&2 , and the ways a family struggle through with only the husband's gift at playing the accordian to support them.
It is a fascinating film that keeps you watching, despite the tragedies. -
Most recent members' review
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5 out of 5 people found this review helpful
Customer Review
It is with some trepidation that I say, given the glowing reviews, I cannot regard this film with much regard. The cinematography is original and sometimes quite stunning. There is, for example, a sequence showing a funeral cortege consisting of a raft with the coffiin followed by a small flotilla of rowing boats in formation. The boats are rowed by oarsmen standing in the stern. The pattern of the moving oars, en masse, gives the scene a rhythmic beauty. Everything is grey. It takes some sort of filmic genius to conceive something like that. A similar, less poetic, scene with rowing boats occurs when the village is flooded. The Greece of this film is a wet, grey place, intensified by the somewhat desaturated colours. Other features of the director's technique are the very, very slow tracking shot, slowly moving in on the subject. These can be very effective used with discretion but there are many such episodes and my reaction was one of irritation as one succeeded another. Close up shots are not used, in fact the camera never lets you see any faces in detail as they are seen no nearer than 20-30 feet, I would guess. I cannot say that I know what any of the main characters looks like. Moustache or not, yes. Colour of hair, yes. Young or old, yes. But not the detailed facial features which makes people real.
Dramatically, the story moves at a snail's pace. Dialogue is confined to an occasional exchange of sentences, none of them very profound. In one episode, the hero is asked to play his accordion at a gig with colleagues from the theatre where he lives. When the band arrived at the cafe, it was closed. There was no outrage or even irritation at being led on a wild goose chase. They didn't even ask why the venue was closed or promise revenge on the owner for wasting their time. They just turned round and went home. This seemed exactly the way a group of musicians, temperamental and sensitive souls but with a sense of fun, would not react. It also ignored the dramatic potential of the little situation. Not that emotion is not displayed elsewhere: the young woman who has run away with the hero cries a lot but doesn't say much. The characters drift along with minimal interaction. You don't know what they look like in detail, you don't know what they are thinking on the whole, so it is difficult to identify with them. It is an elegiac film but even so there is no humour and no laughs from the musicians or the characters in the cafe-bar. The emotion displayed is somehow deracinated and fails to induce the empathy in the viewer that it normally would.
Doubtless, the director's intention was to do exactly that and I dare say he had good reasons. However, my reaction was increasing boredom as the very long film crept along. I was disappointed. -
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The Weeping Meadow is the first part in a celluloid trilogy that spans a wide-ranging historical panorama. In 1919, as Greek refugees flee Odessa and the invading Red Army for their homeland, the ... -