The Weeping Meadow (2004) - Theo Angelopoulus

Angelopoulus has been carefully working this out, the first part of a planned trilogy spanning from 1919 to the present day. The Weeping Meadow covers that beginning period up until the Greek Civil War, which followed WWII. The film has an immediate familiarity for someone who's seen some of his early work. The style is the same right from the first shot. A slow tilting shot of a group of Greek citizen's exiled from Odessa following the Bolshevik Revolution. They are claiming their new land just as the Children of Israel did following Exodus. In the front is a husband and wife, with two kids. We are told by the narrator that the little girl isn't their's, but was found lying next to her dead mother in Odessa. She reaches for the slightly older boy's hand, and in characteristic Angelopuolus fashion we are whisked away to the future.

Eleni (Alexandra Aidini) now a young teen is returning on the same river. She was "sick" and is now back home. We find rather subtlely that she was pregnant by Alexis (Nikos Poursanidis), the young boy in the beginning, and their twins were put up for adoption. More fast forwarding takes place, and the boy's father, Spyros (Vassilis Kolovos) is now planning on marrying Eleni. The two run away on her wedding day off to find a better life, and their children.

We only occasionally get glimpses of what time it is. Eleni stays the same age pretty much the whole film through, but we see her children are young boys, so obviously about 5 or 6 years have passed since their adoption. They take refuge in a theater, where it is discovered that Alexis is a talented accordion player. He joins a band, and one that eventually gets him to America, only to leave behind his family, which he hopes and believes is only temporary.

Of course things are a little depressing from the start, but with a title like The Weeping Meadow, of course there is going to be much sadness. I'd rather like to avoid saying what happens to Eleni, Alexis, and their two sons, but it's not really surprising. Everyone suffers, and it is at your discretion who hurts the most.

After Alexis goes to America, Eleni becomes the film. We see everything through her, and it is her experience we feel and relate to. The whole film is told with long hypnotic and slow takes. The type that can put many people to sleep, but also have a wonderfully subtle beauty. Like other Angelopoulus films it is full of shots that have no real point. There is a field of white sheets hung to dry on clothes lines. The camera takes it's time observing them, and we see and hear the musicians playing a tune as they wander through the white maze. It does nothing for the plot, but it is possibly the most memorable moment from the film, just as the raising of the statue hand was in Landscape in the Mist.

For fans of Theo, this film will not possibly disappoint. It is a remarkable achievement, and when the trilogy gets finished, it can easily be his greatest achievement. Be warned though, this can be long and incredibly boring for people that aren't fans of his. I just hope we can see part two, and that this film gets some DVD distribution.

Grade A