User reviews

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 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.

I saw this movie when it was playing in Berkeley in 1990. This is one of the most beautiful and haunting films I have ever seen. Filled with scenes of mythic beauty and magical realism. It is, on the surface, about two siblings search for their father, but it is also about the search for something both less obvious and more universal. It haunted my dreams for months and some of the images in this film have stayed with me to this day. If you are of a philosophical bent and are open to the experience, I believe you will enjoy this film very much.

Seen the movie in HK International Film Festival over 16 years ago and still could not stop crying whenever I think of the kids in the movie. Be prepare for a sad story. Yet, the whole movie was filmed so artistically and many scenes are so creative (esp. at the age of the production.) This is the only movie still linger in my brain from time to time. Still miss the kids in the movie and wish to be there to get them out of the difficult situations. It is the power of the movie, the power of the director/writer, the little actress and actor. No more description can replace the movie itself. To fill up lines - being a mom of 2 now after the years, I miss the kids in the movie even more.

(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 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.

A road movie about two children (Voula and Alexandre) searching for their father who is supposed to live in Germany. Their obsession for this father figure will take them to the boundaries between childhood and adolescence.

"Landscape in the Mist" was Angelopoulos' first film to be distributed in the United States, being distributed by New Yorker Films. This also happens to be the first of his films that I have seen, and one of the first Greek films, for that matter. (If I have seen more than ten Greek films I would be surprised.) The concept is great, but what really sells the film is some of the strong imagery. The most gripping part of the entire film was when a helicopter came and lifted something out of the water... it was captivating and seemed to possess far more meaning than it possibly should have.

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

Movie is just a compilation of random images with no resemblance of narrative pacing or rhythm whatsoever. I'm not saying this because I don't like this sort of movie. It's quite the opposite, I love Tarkovsky. That's film poetry. This is nothing. It's visually pleasing, but lacks consistency to create some sort of meaning, some metaphoric images are interesting, but then they're just completely out of touch with the rest of the film. There's no actual feeling conveyed, you can't feel the characters. But the worst is the writing. Simply disastrous... And not because it's unnatural, that's acceptable for some conception of poetic film. But here... it's not beautiful, it lacks the poeticism it claims so bad to have.

To me, this is one of the greatest movies of all time. Art and a very touching and interesting story combine each other and create this masterpiece with some unforgettable scenes, images and a mesmerizing cinematography. At the beginning, we do not see the mother of the little sisters, only hear her voice. While watching this scene, I thought that it is to make us feel that the sisters are lonely, nobody cares about them, nobody worries about them. In another scene, the sisters visit a man who is probably one of their relatives. However, he looks disturbed when he sees them. The Petrifying truck scene is a story itself. This scene is horrible in terms of content, but enchanting in terms of cinema. And sharp realism. If there is a flaw in the movie, it is the final. It was obscure and not stunning as the rest of the movie. I mean the scene takes place at night. It could have been a bit different, less obscure. Instead of commenting the end of the movie, some say that it is one of the finals that everyone draws their own conclusion, but for such a content or story, it does not seem a good idea. By the way, always, especially critics say this is a story of getting conscious or growing in wisdom, if a movie is about a little girl or boy. Well, this is not actually, the movie is much more than that and much more different. And as you guess, no cliché. The older sister is conscious anyway. She is aware of everything like an adult, even if she sometimes falls. The both sisters are very courageous and at the same time naive. I wanted to help them in the times they need. However, the weather is cold, desolate ways. Unsafe and risky. The vehicles pass them carelessly and don't stop. Probably the best Angelopoulos movie.

The genius of great Greek director Theo Angelopoulos is evident in all his films.They are known for their trademark long shots and other visual compositions which help viewers get close to the characters. What makes "Landscapes in the mist" an important film is its focus on showing two innocent children as mature human beings who experience and see both evil and good side of adults with their own eyes.Although this film has been structured as a road movie,in a very strict sense it isn't one as too many breaks are taken by Voula and her brother Alexander whose only aim in life is to be able to meet their father in Germany.The maturity which these children possess is the result of a series of painful processes during which they experience deceit,love,rejection and separation.It is true that much information has not been shared behind this film's origins,it can be surmised that it is autobiographical in nature.Lastly,the depiction of a few good men such as Orestis would go a long way in our appreciation of humanity at a time when innumerable crimes are being committed against children.

LANDSCAPE IN THE MIST (1988) Directed by Theo Angelopoulos Today I watched this 1988 masterpiece from the late Theo Angelopoulos. (January, 2017). It won the Silver Lion at Venice Film Festival, and many other awards.(see list on IMDb). It's an exquisite allegorical tale and perhaps knowledge, or lack of it, about modern Greek history could determine what you think it might be about. I have my own ideas as do reviewers before me,here on IMDb.

I love the way this maestro director has used a sort of Odyssey (what could be more appropriate?) by two young siblings, (Voula, aged 14 and her brother Alexander, aged 5) traveling Greece in search of someone (or something) they want to believe exists, just to "understand and know but not to stay," the older girl says. This is a film that is not about what it appears to be about, but is an allegory and a poem, a work of visual art, and profound emotional truth. The visual power and beauty, the gorgeous music (by Eleni Karaindrou), every frame on screen, are all spell-binding. To me, each scene and episode in their young lives on this journey through Greece to find the landscape in the mist, can be linked to the story of the Greek nation and its people. The landscape in the mist is tellingly, first seen on a few frames of 35mm movie film found in the muddy street by their young motor-cyclist mentor... a kind of guiding angel travelling with them for a time. Perhaps he can only see it on the celluloid because he is searching for this mythic landscape (or condition) too. This piece of "found film" serves to link the director himself into the collective experience of all the Greeks. Perhaps it's the modern day "Golden Fleece"? What a gorgeous and poetic film. Almost as beautiful as the same director's "The Weeping Meadow" - one of my all time most admired works of art in cinema.

Theo Angelopoulos' "Landscape in the Mist" is not as emotionally involving as it should be, and yet it is still an oddly intriguing film. The story concerns two Greek children, Voula and Oreste, who were conceived out of wedlock by their mother. Too ashamed to tell them the truth, she claims their father is living in Germany. The kids run away, and encounter many odd incidents and people before the story reaches its conclusion, which involves a symbolic final shot that can be read in several different ways.

In depicting the ongoing struggle of the children, Angelopoulos keeps the two protagonists at too much of a distance for the audience to really identify with them. That's not to say that we do not feel sympathy for them in their plight, but it is hard to become attached to these characters when they are not given any distinct personalities or points of view. For instance, there is a scene halfway through the film where the Voula is brutally assaulted by a truck driver. I felt sorry for her character, but the scene didn't resonate throughout the rest of the film as it should have.

Still, "Landscape in the Mist" manages to succeed in spite of these flaws. Each scene has a different visual symbol attached to it that grabs the attention of the viewer. My two favorite moments involved Voula and Oreste running through the snow as surrounding villagers stand motionless staring into the sky, and the two watching a giant stone hand being pulled out of the sea by a helicopter and flying off into the distance. The former displays the perseverance of the children in a rigid adult world, and the latter hints that the two are being guided in their journey by an invisible force. Angelopoulos has given us a film that shows the innocence of children pitted against the brutal realities of the modern world, and has given us an admirable, if flawed, picture.

Alas, The Left Index has met its match. Usually, the index concerns seven variables when considering a film--acting, production scenes, dialogue, plot, character development, artistry, and continuity--on a scale ranging from a high of 10 to a low of 1. Generally, a mix of rating results in some score which demonstrates the strong and weak points in a film. With this film, every variable is ranked a 10, simply because the film is sensational in all areas. The film is powerful, intense and spellbinding. Everything is related to everything else, which, in effect, results in an organic whole which is seldom achieved in film. The acting is connected with the decisions the two children make as the travel to Germany, even not knowing where it is or what it is. They constantly have to decide whom to trust, how to avoid dangers, or which way is north. The production scenes are unparalleled, especially the snow scene at the police station, the horse and wedding in the town square, and the motorcycle rally. There are dozens of others just as good. The plot is propelled by constant dramatic action, which gradually intensifies towards the conclusion. Not matter what the viewer is prepared for, there are continual unexpected events which reinforce the plot. Character development is superb, as the children become both wiser and more experienced as they near their goal. Dialogue is sparse, words are spoken only when necessary, and some scenes are wordless. After all, film is a medium where one sees things happen. The films strongest point is in the combination of continuity and artistry. In a word, it is surreal in the classical manner of Salvadore Dali and Pablo Picasso. One is especially cognizant of Dali's "Persistance of Memory" in terms of the wide expanses of space. In fact, Theo Angelopoulos employs the three element of 20th century surrealism--land, sky, and water--very effectively. There are obvious allusions to Picasso's "Saltimbasques" with the traveling theater. Angelopoulos' illusion to the hand of God from the Sistine Chapel is unmistakable, especially with the missing finger which symbolizes human contact with salvation. All in all, The Left Elbow Index rates the film a 10-plus. I strongly recommend this film. Aristotle would have loved it. I think you will, too.

Landscape in the Mist is the third in a Trilogy of Silence that began with Voyage to Cythera and continued with The Bee-Keeper. In all three films the qualities that distinguished the first trilogy -Days of '36, The Travelling Players, and The Hunters- are absent. The music in the first trilogy is precise and precisely used at key moments of the film; whereas in the second trilogy the music is repetitive and not traditionally Greek but some sort of middle European slop which heard again and again becomes an irritating nuisance and a diversion from the film. The music in Megalexandros is even more important and deftly used. Second, the cinematography in the first trilogy and Megalexandros is pristine and superb in its use of Northern Greek landscape, whereas in the second trilogy, with the exception of the closing scenes of Voyage to Cythera and Landscape in the Mist, the landscape rarely works as a commentary other than, perhaps the empty roads in Landscape in the Mist. Third, the introduction of Tonino Guerra as writer complicates the vision Angelopoulos had before, giving his films an existential despair familiar from Antonionio's films on which Guerra wrote, and which are part of the problem. The unreality of two children who rarely eat or drink or wash may not matter as they represent a transition from innocence to maturity, but the adults around them are by turns indifferent (the uncle), brutal (the truck driver), loving (Orestes) but seem not to contribute anything to the children's lives, other than the obvious problem of the truck scene. Perhaps in this film the father's silence is equivalent to God's silence, yet the solitary tree at the end suggests the eternal spring of life, and that the children have found their peace. What a pity this ravishing scene is so polluted by that whining oboe and that relentless repetition of such third rate muzak.

I have the Artificial Eye Boxed sets, and all the films seem to be missing up to 5-15 minutes, are there no definitive versions of Angelopoulos' films?

As a famous German poet said, we shouldn't be deceived: the light is not growing stronger, it's just the darkness being absorbed in itself. And an analogous process is is situated at the core of ''Landscape in the Mist''. The children awake, and they are amidst impenetrable mists and despondency looms over their perspective. Voula admits to being afraid straight away. But her brother, and more relevant, her companion and her only friend, the one towards whom nearly all her words are directed, soothes her: they're in Germany now, and therefore she must not be afraid. To calm her, he proceeds to tell her the story, for which he now will have enough time: ''In the beginning it was the darkness... and then it was light.'' It was a rather short story which, for all its brevity, managed to contain the answer, in the simplest fashion, for the most perplexing questions. Perhaps there is nothing truly beautiful left at all, nothing whose beauty we can acknowledge without at the same testifying for the abjection and horror laying at its center. Toward the end, the pair board the train that will take them to Germany, at last, after many failed and painful attempts, having procured themselves the necessary tickets--once again, as they witness in the beginning, a sign which they cannot recognize; it tells them nothing, it is opaque and void of signification--, and they are smiling in a sudden discharge of light. However, the situation soon changes, as another gesture of the outer, adult, incomprehensible world makes its presence felt: they need their passports, of which, of course, they know nothing, and so darkness prevails again. It is of no avail to search justification on the untenable plan of reason and common sense. Yes, the sense of healthy proportions would indicate what would seem at first a few logical, reasonable steps, but only at first, for the belief that life truly works by ways so superficial, and that our perspectives are ever so simple to contemplate is but a lack of true consideration, it is blindness and ignorance. We need only insist with our sight over the objects, so that we may hope to know anything at all about their essence. And this essence may strike us as rebarbative, injust, debased, and truth be told, it is just so, because only in this light, which reveals the objects in their true undesirable element we can accede to a point of view from which anything can be salvaged. Just as Orestis invites the children to look closely and attentively to what seems to be a mere piece of erased film thrown away, to concentrate enough upon it until it reveals a tree, behind the mist, and concedes finally that he were indeed playing games, as there was nothing of note on that fragment of plastic which ends in the hypnotized hands of Alexandros, who seemingly cannot escape its charm, its stupefying possession of nothing, we should look straight in the mist, in the paralyzed absence, in the nothingness, and extract the beauty we deemed initially denied by this very mist which we must penetrate, as the two children in the end who discern a tree, as picturesque as can be, growing from the thick fog, its characteristics getting more and more clear with each moment, culminating in a real formalization of a landscape, with the children themselves being absorbed by the tree's trunk. It was perhaps a chance not to give in to the superficial simplicity of facts and logical relations and seemingly evident choices, but rather to that other one, the simplicity of profundity which lies deem in murky waters, and in the most despondent darkness, but which can at last deliver things, ennobling them to the level promised by the essence which seeps from the realms of hidden truths. It was as beautiful as the cry of happy children becoming that which they truly were, behind all the deceiving and beautiful appearances, while looking for an elusive figure which they can only stumble upon in a completely unexpected shape.

I saw this film in a local movie theatre around 30 years ago. And it is true. I am an ignorant. I didn't understand much of it.

I don't remember much now either, except being bored to insanity and beyond by the pretentious blabbering, wriggling in my chair, hoping that the gorgeous and probably smarter girl in the seat beside me wouldn't understand that I was too stupid for this movie, knowing that some cultural highbrow jerk would describe it as "marvelous, fantastic, beautiful" or, even more likely, use other words that I probably wouldn't understand either.

Long. So long. How long can a movie be?

On our way out of the theatre, probably after around two and a half months in the seat, I heard a woman dressed in her elitist, purple uniform talk about the "pretty landscape and the use of light". Then I knew that she hadn't understood anything either, but was never going to tell anyone.

I am however thankful. I survived. It didn't kill me outright, even if it scarred me for life. Which is why I am doubling the score.

Avoid, unless you have a potential partner to impress and are willing and able to serve your time in the chair to reap a possible reward afterwards. Remember comfy pants.

But I never even got the girl. I told you she was smart.