Reviews
Trilogia: To livadi pou dakryzei (2004)
amazing, interactive, fulfilling
I had watched years ago some older films of Aggelopoulos and i was expecting a slow movie, with minimal dialogues, many symbolisms, weak plot and superb photography. I got exactly what i expected and something more: i left the theatre with an extreme satisfaction.
The film: Greece roughly between 1920 and 1950 (but it is so current and contemporary because it deals with global, recurring themes). The life of the nation through events: national catastrophes, refugees, social and political unrest, world and civil wars. The life of the person through emotions: love, lust, pride, hope, love, desperation, ambition, love, death. And many symbolisms and extremely powerful and beautiful scenes with references from ancient myths to current international affairs. And rain, lots of rain :-) The plot and the development of the characters may appear weak. We are used to ready meals from the business of cinema, which overwhelm us with fast dialogues, "strong" performances and "exciting" situations. And that's fine. But cinema and people need also the approach of Aggelopoulos, we need some space and time, to reflect and realise our existence. "To Livadi pou dakryzei" gives more freedom and time to the viewer to participate with his feelings and memories and thoughts. That's exactly interactive art.
These are some of my interpretations of some scenes: village flooding (Climate Change and the forces of Nature), immigration/separation (departure of my girlfriend), mother crying over her soldier sons dead bodies (this is a real war scene, not the computer games style). You will identify with other scenes (everyone has an opinion, right ?) and you will feel alive.
I am grateful to Aggelopoulos for giving me the chance to look inside myself, remember, sigh, think.
Alive (1993)
I hate planes !
I liked the crash scene at the beggining.
The rest is ok, but never really creates anything extraordinary to the spectator. To me.
So, ordinary movie, but it will not harm you watching it.
Deathwatch (2002)
Not an ordinary film.
Very good film. I had no idea what was about and I was relieved at the end: thank God (or, better, Michael Bassett) it wasn't the ordinary horror film with the odd zombie or the madman with the axe. One-dimensional, ordinary people will hate it; renting and watching a film for them is like eating a frozen food from the microwave: limited function, guaranteed satisfaction. Read the comment below by spiritofdeathwatch for more if you didn't understand the film.
Rappresaglia (1973)
very badly made
very badly made film, the action/violence scenes are ridiculous.
1 point for the presence of Burton and Mastroianni + 1 point for the real tragic event of the massacre of the innocent italians: 2/10.
Welcome to Collinwood (2002)
Very good remake of a masterpiece
This is not a "loose", but a precise, faithful remake of 1958 Monicelli's classic "I Soliti Ignoti" with Toto', Mastroianni, Gassman, Cardinale etc. And that's the reason is good, it copies all the funny characters and the plot, even in details (like the scene where the photographer steals the camera from the local market).
I have watched the superb old version many times and I knew by heart all the gangs and the ending but I still enjoyed "Welcome to Collinwood", which has its own freshness and atmosphere. It is interesting to see how the life and ways of the little thieves in 1950's Italy are adapted to 2002's USA. Things haven't changed much. 8/10.
Yadon ilaheyya (2002)
Absolutely brilliant, 8/10.
Very intelligent and sensitive film. Don't get me wrong: I can easily fall asleep in slow, "intellectual" films, but in this one I enjoyed every single shot and scene of it. The music was very good as well.
I loved the urban landscapes, the faces and body language of the people and the strong symbolisms.
Do you know how much power an apricot stone has ? :-)
To klama vgike ap' ton Paradeiso (2001)
Don't mix this with Greek cinema because it isn't.
This thing is just OK only to watch it on a Friday night with your bored-to-death mates (that's what I did yesterday). I laughed to tears in some scenes taking the p*** of the 1950s-1970s Greek films but:
These laughs are not the effect of a genuine or sensitive humour but rather similar to a reaction when someone farts. This is not really cinema, just a sequence of TV-style gangs we watch every year in the Xmas programmes. My three (out of ten) is the mark that this "film" deserves ;-)
Two years ago I was bit harsh to all the good people of Greek TV-Washing Machine so I repeat it: this thing is easy to watch and you laugh with it but after you watch it you feel an emptiness, a gap; it's the intellectual deficit of modern Greece.