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Theo Angelopoulos

Days of '36 (Meres tou '36)

Director Theo Angelopoulos Cast Vangelis Kazan, Kostas Pavlou, Thanos Grammenos
Edition 2021
105' - 1972 - Historical, Drama - Dialogue: Greek

A trade unionist is assassinated at a workers' rally and a former police informer, Sofianos, is arrested and charged with the murder. The accused, a greatly troubled personage, currently out on probation, an ex drug-trafficker is being used to infiltrate and bring down his old accomplices. He is visited in prison by a Conservative Member of Parliament with whom he has a homosexual relationship. Using a smuggled gun, the prisoner takes the politician hostage creating an embarrassing and increasingly absurd scandal for the authorities. The government find themselves in a delicate predicament. If they do not free the hostage they will lose the support of the Conservatives and if they do the support of the democrats.. Forced to deal with a situation they cannot control and when «reason» and threats fail, they attempt to dispose of Sofianos, at first clumsily (a botched attempt to poison the prisoner), then, finally, with the devastating accuracy of a bullet as they send in a sharpshooter to finish the job. Order is finally restored but in the process two facts have emerged that reflect Angelopoulos' view of Greek history as portrayed in this film. Firstly that the government was so weak and corrupt that the actions of one person almost brought it down and secondly that it was so incompetent that it could solve a problem only through murder. (theoangelopoulos.gr)

“Angelopoulos fully discovers his unique style: a way of recording horror staring at masked images, making the audience aware of what is not shown. He gives us, as directly as possible, the dilemma of discourse in a country where you can’t speak freely. His silence is eloquent.” - Film Comment

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Credits

Directors

Theo Angelopoulos

Cast

Vangelis Kazan, Kostas Pavlou, Thanos Grammenos

Scenario

Theo Angelopoulos, Stratis Karras, Petros Markaris, Thanassis Valtinos

Director of Photography

Giorgos Arvanitis, Vasilis Hristomoglou

Editors

Vasilis Syropoulos

Producers

Giorgos Papalios

More info

Dialogue

Greek

Countries of production

Greece

Year

1972

Filmography

Theo Angelopoulos
Forminx Story (1965), Broadcast (short, 1968), Anaparastasi (1970), Days of '36 (1972), The Travelling Players (1975), The Hunters (1977), Alexander the Great (1980), Athens, Return to the Acropolis (1983), Voyage to Cythera (1984), The Beekeeper (1986), Landscape in the Mist (1988), The Suspended Step of the Stork (1991), Ulysses' Gaze (1995), Eternity and a Day (1998), Trilogy I: The Weeping Meadow (2004), Trilogy II: The Dust of Time (2008), Mundo Invisível (segment, 2012)