Theo Angelopoulos
Template:Short description Template:Use dmy dates Template:Infobox person Theodoros "Theo" Angelopoulos (Template:Langx; (27 April 1935 – 24 January 2012) was a Greek filmmaker, screenwriter and film producer. He dominated the Greek art film industry from 1975 on,Template:Sfn and Angelopoulos was one of the most influential and widely respected filmmakers in the world.Template:SfnTemplate:SfnTemplate:Sfn He started making films in 1967. In the 1970s he made a series of political films about modern Greece.
Angelopoulos' films, described by Martin Scorsese as that of "a masterful filmmaker", are characterized by the slightest movement, slightest change in distance, long takes, and complex, carefully composed scenes. His cinematic method is often described as "sweeping" and "hypnotic."Template:SfnTemplate:Sfn Angelopoulos has said that in his shots, “time becomes space and space becomes time.” The pauses between action or music are important to creating the total effect.Template:Sfn
In 1998 his film Eternity and a Day went on to win the Palme d'Or at the 51st edition of the Cannes Film Festival, and his films have been shown at many of the world's esteemed film festivals.<ref name="IMDb-TA-a" />
Biography
[edit]Theodoros Angelopoulos was born in Athens on 27 April 1935. His father Spyros hailed from the town of Ampeliona, Messenia in the Peloponnese.Template:Sfn During the Greek Civil War, his father was taken hostage and returned when Angelopoulos was 9 years old; according to the director, the absence of his father and looking for him among the dead bodies (during the "Dekemvriana" in Athens) had a great impact on his cinematography.<ref>"Theodoros Angelopoulos", editions Kastanioti, p. 189.</ref>Template:Sfn He studied law at the National and Kapodistrian University of Athens, but after his military service went to Paris to attend the Sorbonne. He soon dropped out to study film at the Institut des hautes études cinématographiques (IDHEC) before returning to Greece. There, he worked as a journalist and film critic. Angelopoulos began making films after the 1967 coup that began the Regime of the Colonels. He made his first short film in 1968 and in the 1970s he began making a series of political feature films about modern Greece: Days of '36 (Meres Tou 36, 1972), The Travelling Players (O Thiassos, 1975) and The Hunters (I Kynighoi, 1977). In 1978, he was a member of the jury at the 28th Berlin International Film Festival.<ref name="berlinale">Template:Cite web</ref>
Template:Quote box He quickly established a characteristic style, marked by slow, episodic and ambiguous narrative structures as well as long takes (The Travelling Players, for example, consists of only 80 shots in about four hours of film). These takes often include meticulously choreographed and complicated scenes involving many actors.
His regular collaborators include the cinematographer Giorgos Arvanitis, the screenwriter Tonino Guerra and the composer Eleni Karaindrou. One of the recurring themes of his work is immigration, the flight from homeland and the return, as well as the history of 20th century Greece. Angelopoulos was considered by British film critics Derek MalcolmTemplate:Sfn and David ThomsonTemplate:Sfn as one of the world's greatest directors. Famous film directors including Werner Herzog<ref>Template:Cite web</ref> Emir Kusturica,<ref>Template:Cite web</ref> Akira Kurosawa,<ref>Template:Cite web</ref><ref>Template:Cite web</ref><ref>Template:Cite web</ref> Ingmar Bergman,<ref>Template:Cite web</ref> Wim Wenders,<ref>Template:Cite web</ref> Dušan Makavejev,<ref>Template:Cite web</ref> William Friedkin,<ref>Template:Cite web</ref> Manoel de Oliveira,<ref>Template:Cite web</ref> Michelangelo Antonioni among others,<ref name=":1">Template:Cite web</ref> were also admirers of his works.
While critics have speculated on how he developed his style, Angelopoulos made clear in one interview that "The only specific influences I acknowledge are Orson Welles for his use of plan-sequence and deep focus, and Mizoguchi, for his use of time and off-camera space."<ref>The Last Modernist, ed. Andrew Horton, 1997</ref> He had also cited Andrei Tarkovsky's 1979 work Stalker as an influence.<ref>Template:Cite book</ref>
Angelopoulos was awarded honorary doctorates by the Université libre de Bruxelles, Belgium in 1995, by Paris West University Nanterre La Défense, France, by the University of Essex, UK in July 2001,<ref name="UoE-or-2001">Template:Cite web</ref> by the University of Western Macedonia, Greece in December 2008,<ref name="UoWM-2008">Template:Cite web</ref> and by the University of the Aegean, Greece in December 2009.<ref name="UotA-2009">Template:Cite web</ref>
Death
[edit]Angelopoulos died late on Tuesday, 24 January 2012, several hours after being involved in a crash while shooting his latest film, The Other Sea in Athens.<ref>Template:Cite web</ref> On that evening, the filmmaker had been with his crew in the area of Drapetsona, near Piraeus when he was hit by a motorcycle, which unconfirmed reports suggested was ridden by an off-duty police officer. The crash occurred when Angelopoulos, 76, attempted to cross a busy road. He was taken to a hospital, where he was treated in an intensive care unit but succumbed to his serious injuries several hours later.<ref name="Death">Template:Cite news</ref><ref name="guardian-2012-01-24">Template:Cite news</ref> His funeral was a public expense, on 27 January at the First Cemetery of Athens.<ref>Template:Cite web</ref>
Filmography
[edit]| Year | Original title | English title | Director | Writer | Notes |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| 1968 | Η εκπομπή (I Ekpombi) |
Broadcast | Template:Yes | Template:Yes | Short film |
| 1970 | Αναπαράσταση (Anaparastasi) |
Reconstitution | Template:Yes | Template:No | |
| 1972 | Μέρες του '36 (Meres tou '36) |
Days of '36 | Template:Yes | Template:No | Part 1 of the "Trilogy of History" |
| 1975 | Ο Θίασος (O Thiassos) |
The Travelling Players | Template:Yes | Template:Yes | Part 2 of the "Trilogy of History" |
| 1977 | Οι Κυνηγοί (I Kinighi) |
The Hunters | Template:Yes | Template:Yes | Co-writer Part 3 of the "Trilogy of History" |
| 1980 | Ο Μεγαλέξανδρος (O Megalexandros) |
Alexander the Great | Template:Yes | Template:No | |
| 1983 | Αθήνα, επιστροφή στην Ακρόπολη (Athina, epistrofi stin Akropoli) |
Athens, Return to the Acropolis | Template:Yes | Template:Yes | Segment of Capitali culturali d'Europa |
| 1984 | Ταξίδι στα Κύθηρα (Taxidi sta Kythira) |
Voyage to Cythera | Template:Yes | Template:Yes | Co-writer Part 1 of the "Trilogy of Silence" |
| 1986 | Ο Μελισσοκόμος (O Melissokomos) |
The Beekeeper | Template:Yes | Template:Yes | Co-writer Part 2 of the "Trilogy of Silence" |
| 1988 | Τοπίο στην ομίχλη (Topio stin Omichli) |
Landscape in the Mist | Template:Yes | Template:Yes | Co-writer Part 3 of the "Trilogy of Silence" European Film Award for Best Film 1989 |
| 1991 | Το Mετέωρο Bήμα Tου Πελαργού (To Meteoro Vima tou Pelargou) |
The Suspended Step of the Stork | Template:Yes | Template:No | Part 1 of the "Trilogy of Borders" |
| 1995 | Το βλέμμα του Οδυσσέα (To Vlemma tou Odyssea) |
Ulysses' Gaze | Template:Yes | Template:Yes | Co-writer Part 2 of the "Trilogy of Borders" |
| 1995 | Lumière et compagnie | Lumière and Company | Template:Yes | Template:Yes | Co-director/co-writer Segment: Up to 52 seconds |
| 1998 | Μια αιωνιότητα και μια μέρα (Mia aioniotita kai mia mera) |
Eternity and a Day | Template:Yes | Template:Yes | Co-writer Part 3 of the "Trilogy of Borders" Palme d'Or 1998 |
| 2004 | Τριλογία: Το λιβάδι που δακρύζει (Trilogia I: To Livadi pou dakryzi) |
Trilogy: The Weeping Meadow | Template:Yes | Template:No | Part 1 of the trilogy on modern Greece |
| 2007 | Chacun son cinéma | To Each His Own Cinema | Template:Yes | Template:Yes | Co-director/co-writer Segment: Trois minutes (Three Minutes) |
| 2008 | Η Σκόνη του Χρόνου (I skoni tou chronou) |
The Dust of Time | Template:Yes | Template:No | Part 2 of the trilogy on modern Greece |
| 2011 | Mundo Invisivel | Invisible World | Template:Yes | Template:Yes | Co-director/co-writer Segment: Sky below |
| —<ref>Left uncompleted by Angelopoulos' unexpected death in January 2012.</ref> | I alli thalassa | The Other Sea | Template:Yes | Template:Yes | Part 3 of the trilogy on modern Greece |
Awards
[edit]Angelopoulos won numerous awards, including the Palme d'Or at the 51st edition of the Cannes Film Festival in 1998 for Eternity and a Day (Mia aioniotita kai mia mera). His films have been shown at the most important film festivals around the world.<ref name="IMDb-TA-a">Template:Cite web</ref>
Lifetime achievement awards
[edit]Theodoros Angelopoulos was also the recipient of many awards for his long standing career.<ref name="IMDb-TA-a" />
| Year | Provider | Award |
|---|---|---|
| Template:Sort | Université libre de Bruxelles | Honorary Doctorate |
| Template:Sort | Template:Sort | European Silver Ribbon<ref name="IMDb-SR-1996" /> |
| Template:Sort | University of Essex | Honorary Graduate<ref name="UoE-or-2001" /> |
| Template:Sort | Template:Sort | Honorary Award<ref name="IMDb-CIFF-2003">Template:Cite web</ref>Template:Efn |
| Template:Sort | Template:Sort | Honorary Award<ref name="IMDb-FIP-2003">Template:Cite web</ref> |
| Template:Sort | Template:Sort | Grand Prix Special des Amériques<ref name="IMDb-MWFF-2004">Template:Cite web</ref> |
| Template:Sort | Template:Sort | Hand Printing<ref name="IMDb-BIFF-2004">Template:Cite web</ref> |
| Template:Sort | University of Western Macedonia | Honorary Graduate<ref name="UoWM-2008" /> |
| Template:Sort | Template:Sort | Lifetime Achievement Award<ref name="IMDb-YIFF-2010">Template:Cite web</ref> |
| Template:Sort | University of the Aegean | Honorary Graduate<ref name="UotA-2009" /> |
| Template:Sort | Dokuz Eylül University | Honorary Doctorate |
| Template:Sort | Paris West University Nanterre La Défense | Honorary Doctorate |
Notes
[edit]References
[edit]Bibliography and sources
[edit]- Books
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- Journals, magazines, and web
External links
[edit]Template:Wikiquote Template:Commons category
- Template:Official website
- Template:IMDb name
- Theo Angelopoulos in musicolog* Template:Cite web
Template:Theo Angelopoulos Template:Prix du scénario Template:Authority control
- 1935 births
- 2012 deaths
- Cannes Film Festival Award for Best Screenplay winners
- Directors of Palme d'Or winners
- European Film Awards winners (people)
- Film people from Athens
- Greek expatriates in France
- Greek film directors
- Greek political artists
- Greek screenwriters
- National and Kapodistrian University of Athens alumni
- Road incident deaths in Greece
- University of Paris alumni
- Institut des hautes études cinématographiques alumni