Trilogy: The Weeping Meadow | |
---|---|
Original title | Τριλογία: Το λιβάδι που δακρύζει |
Directed by | Theo Angelopoulos |
Screenplay by | Theo Angelopoulos Tonino Guerra Petros Markaris Giorgio Silvagni |
Produced by | Nikos Sekeris [1] |
Starring |
|
Cinematography | Andreas Sinanos [2] |
Edited by | Yorgos Triantafyllou [1] |
Music by | Eleni Karaindrou [3] |
Distributed by | Rosebud (Greece) Celluloid Dreams [1] (Worldwide) |
Release dates |
|
Running time | 169 minutes [4] [5] |
Country | Greece |
Language | Greek [4] |
Box office | $64,424 [6] [7] |
Trilogy: The Weeping Meadow ( Greek: Τριλογία: Το λιβάδι που δακρύζει) is a 2004 Greek historical drama film written [4] and directed by Theo Angelopoulos. [5] [8] It stars Alexandra Aidini, Thalia Argyriou, Giorgos Armenis, Vasilis Kolovos and Nikos Poursanidis, [4] and was released during the 2004 Berlin International Film Festival on 11 February 2004. [1]
It is the first film of a projected trilogy about recent events in Greek history. [9] Followed in 2008 with The Dust of Time, the trilogy was ultimately left incomplete after Angelopoulos' unexpected death in January 2012. [9]
The film revives themes of Angelopoulos' 1975 film The Travelling Players, [10] and its events span from 1919 to the aftermath of World War II. [11] It tells the story of Greek history through the sufferings of one family. [3] A band of refugees that returns to Greece after the Russian Revolution adopts an orphaned girl, Eleni (Alexandra Aidini). [4] Eleni becomes the focus of the story. [3] The film follows her through adolescence and the marriage to her musician adopted-brother Alexis (Nikos Poursanidis). [4] Eleni becomes pregnant by Alexis, [3] and bears twin boys, who are sent away at birth. [3] Many years later she is forced to marry her widowed adopted father. On her wedding day, Eleni escapes with Alexis to Thessaloniki, where they reunite with their sons. [3] Their lives are then ripped apart by World War II and the ensuing Greek Civil War. [4]
Trilogy: The Weeping Meadow received generally favorable reviews from critics. At Metacritic it holds a 73/100 score based on 12 reviews. [12] At Rotten Tomatoes it has a 67% score based on 27 reviews, with an average rating of 6.3/10. [13] Peter Bradshaw of The Guardian gave the film two out of five stars, and commented: "The movie is fiercely austere; no human emotion leaks out and the characters are as blank as chess-pieces." [10] Dana Stevens of The New York Times: "The Weeping Meadow is a beautiful and devastating meditation on war, history and loss." [3] Derek Elley of Variety: "The movie plays like a career summation in which the 68-year-old writer-director has simply run out new ideas." [1]
Trilogy: The Weeping Meadow | |
---|---|
Original title | Τριλογία: Το λιβάδι που δακρύζει |
Directed by | Theo Angelopoulos |
Screenplay by | Theo Angelopoulos Tonino Guerra Petros Markaris Giorgio Silvagni |
Produced by | Nikos Sekeris [1] |
Starring |
|
Cinematography | Andreas Sinanos [2] |
Edited by | Yorgos Triantafyllou [1] |
Music by | Eleni Karaindrou [3] |
Distributed by | Rosebud (Greece) Celluloid Dreams [1] (Worldwide) |
Release dates |
|
Running time | 169 minutes [4] [5] |
Country | Greece |
Language | Greek [4] |
Box office | $64,424 [6] [7] |
Trilogy: The Weeping Meadow ( Greek: Τριλογία: Το λιβάδι που δακρύζει) is a 2004 Greek historical drama film written [4] and directed by Theo Angelopoulos. [5] [8] It stars Alexandra Aidini, Thalia Argyriou, Giorgos Armenis, Vasilis Kolovos and Nikos Poursanidis, [4] and was released during the 2004 Berlin International Film Festival on 11 February 2004. [1]
It is the first film of a projected trilogy about recent events in Greek history. [9] Followed in 2008 with The Dust of Time, the trilogy was ultimately left incomplete after Angelopoulos' unexpected death in January 2012. [9]
The film revives themes of Angelopoulos' 1975 film The Travelling Players, [10] and its events span from 1919 to the aftermath of World War II. [11] It tells the story of Greek history through the sufferings of one family. [3] A band of refugees that returns to Greece after the Russian Revolution adopts an orphaned girl, Eleni (Alexandra Aidini). [4] Eleni becomes the focus of the story. [3] The film follows her through adolescence and the marriage to her musician adopted-brother Alexis (Nikos Poursanidis). [4] Eleni becomes pregnant by Alexis, [3] and bears twin boys, who are sent away at birth. [3] Many years later she is forced to marry her widowed adopted father. On her wedding day, Eleni escapes with Alexis to Thessaloniki, where they reunite with their sons. [3] Their lives are then ripped apart by World War II and the ensuing Greek Civil War. [4]
Trilogy: The Weeping Meadow received generally favorable reviews from critics. At Metacritic it holds a 73/100 score based on 12 reviews. [12] At Rotten Tomatoes it has a 67% score based on 27 reviews, with an average rating of 6.3/10. [13] Peter Bradshaw of The Guardian gave the film two out of five stars, and commented: "The movie is fiercely austere; no human emotion leaks out and the characters are as blank as chess-pieces." [10] Dana Stevens of The New York Times: "The Weeping Meadow is a beautiful and devastating meditation on war, history and loss." [3] Derek Elley of Variety: "The movie plays like a career summation in which the 68-year-old writer-director has simply run out new ideas." [1]