Paisaje en la niebla

(1988) Landscapes In The Mist/ Topio stin omihli (In Greek with English subtitles) DRAMA/ ART HOUSE

Co-produced, co-written and directed by Theodoros Angelopoulos which the tone that is similar Michelangelo Antonioni's "L'Avventura" but there's a lack of rhythm or flow in terms of the structure centering on a couple of children going on an odyssey in search of their real father they had never met. There are way too many pause shots of them standing around doing nothing walking along the highway which can be metaphorically confusing and can frustrate the average impatient viewer, and it is those scenes that makes this 124 minutes quite long to watch. I never liked this film as I initially saw it, but as a result of reading and hearing other peoples interpretations I have grown to accept it. This is the third of three films of Angelopoulos's 'Silent Trilogy', even though they still can be watched without the others being seen. The other two are "Voyage to Cythera" released in 1983 and then "The Beekeeper" released in 1986.

A hard film to watch but an unforgettable experience. I was deeply moved by the damage done to these children in the raw, emptiness of the world of this film. Running away through Greece to seek out their theoretical father in an imagined Germany, they experience confusion, violation and epic indifference to their real and imagined needs. Momentary relief and hope is found in the form of a young man traveling with a theater company, but it is fleeting. The sheer simplicity of their need remain together and to go to Germany is, by the end, all that they have.

Angelopoulos, like other artists/poets/philosophers in film, has a very specific vision of the world which he is relating. There are moments in Landscape In The Mist where our trained needs for (Hollywood) film conventions, story structure and even simple answers cries out. Yet this is far from his intent; as with poetry, the film strives to state itself with images and ideas which leave the viewer not simply awed by beauty but also perplexed and emotionally disorganized as to how or what to to feel. To judge Angelopoulos on the same standards as a showbiz product is to miss the point. He believes film is art and not necessarily entertainment. One may dislike that vision but one will invariably be enriched by the journey if one can spend the time watching it with an open mind. Angelopoulos finds funding for his films and makes them for those who care to extend themselves into someone else's vision, not to reward investors by meeting a market need. He is a powerful artist. There are reasons why his films are not well known in the US, but those reasons are also what makes them fascinating, brilliant and rare experiences.

A quest for an unknown father becomes an odyssey into adulthood for two illegitimate Greek children, traveling alone the length of their country in a hopeless attempt to trace the whereabouts of a man they know only from the bedside fairy tales told by their mother. The journey is often grim and brutal, but is also filled by occasional magic, transforming their search into a sometimes sweet, sometimes bitter reflection of childhood mysteries and adolescent pain.

The reticent screenplay and slow, deliberate rhythms will likely be tedious to anyone with a TV-damaged attention span, but the same understated detachment can sometimes have a devastating impact, for example during a rape scene made all the more chilling for taking place just out of view, and in total silence. Discriminating viewers able to avoid nodding off into their popcorn will find it a film of rare beauty, with an emotional resonance to match the often haunting imagery.

A journey is often the best way to find yourself, even if you are looking for something else. Greek director Theo Angelopoulos' film traces two runaway children – 11-year-old Voula (Tania Palaiologou) and her five- year-old brother Alexandros (Michalis Zeke) – as they search for a fictive father their mother made up stories about. On the road, they learn the realities of life – cruelty, violence and the crude struggle for survival, but also friendship and the first stirrings of romance. In a particularly startling scene, joy and sorrow are revealed simultaneously as a horse dies before their eyes, even as a marriage is mirthfully celebrated nearby. In another, the hand of a statue pulled out of the water could symbolise fragmentation, among several other things. In the end, the quest is hopeless. It's a desperate search for value, for meaning, for that indistinct dream you cling on to which gives life a sense of purpose.

Landscape in the Mist is the tale of two Greek siblings (a girl and a boy) who one day decide to travel to Germany to search for his unknown father. Fifteen minutes into the film we learn that the father in question, doesn't real exist. In fact, we also learn from the children' uncle (her mother's brother) that it all has been a lie as the children are the result of different love affairs. In most conventional movies, this early discovery would ruin the plot, hence the rest of film, but here it becomes the turning point into the children' odyssey since it fuels up their desire to meet his father. From that towards, the film shows us thew siblings mixed up in the raw atmosphere of the adult world, surrounded by bleach landscapes and a misty never-ending who serves at the only witness for the children descend into adulthood. There, in the battlefield of an unknown world, our main characters encounter many challenges, but they all together manage the constant menace of a number of difficult situations, thanks in a part by a good natured youngster named Oreste. However, he is not always present for the children (due to their constant moving) and at the end, one has the feeling that after all, they are alone to face their fate; which in my opinion reflects the paradox of a new born child.

Landscape in the Mist is a piece of art, a masterpiece so well crafted that makes think about it even if you haven't watch it in years. It so powerful and yet so sad, like a misty sky in a rainy day. HIGHLY RECOMMENDABLE. IT WILL CHANGE YOUR LIFE