#thetravellingplayers

[thejewofkansas]

#MovieoftheDay: The Travelling Players (1975) Movies I Want to See: 20/50 Theo Angelopoulos is the kind of director whose films are more spoken of than seen: his style is slow and spare, and perhaps this is the slowest and sparest of all his films, running 230 minutes and containing roughly 80 individual shots. Some critics have cited it as one of the greatest films ever made. Despite this, it is surprisingly hard to get ahold of, at least in this country; it has never been issued in a Region 1 DVD, even though it would seem like an ideal Criterion title. (Then again, Criterion has never touched Angelopoulos, and aside from the works of the exiled Costa-Gavras, I don't know of any Greek directors they've honored.) The subject is Greek history from the 30s to the 50s, as reflected in the experiences of a theatrical troupe. On an allegorical level, their lives mirror the saga of the house of Atreus, and indeed the characters have mythological names: Orestes, Elektra, Aegisthus, etc. Having yet to see a film by Angelopoulos, I cannot say whether his style would fascinate or bore me, but the theatrical subject matter and the sheer epic ambition of his approach, on top of the film's critical regard, make it a must-see for me. #TheTravellingPlayers #TheoAngelopoulos #Greekcinema #HouseofAtreus #EvaKotamanidou #VangelisKazan #PetrosZarkadis