O Melissokomos (The Beekeeper)

Marcello Mastroianni is the imposing central figure of this film: a man soured by a secret love for his daughter and now a wanderer, obsessed by his job as a beekeeper. Angelopoulos follows this hollow man as he drives from town to town, picks up a young girl traveller and revisits his old haunts and comrades from the past. The style, though, has changed - there are fewer long takes , the
cutting is quicker and the narrative more eventful, as in the long, intricate nude love scene in a deserted cinema. But the director 's signature is ever present: wonderfully textured images by Arvanitis, a succession of beautifully sustained travelling shots and an emotional intensity which moves to a grave, overwhelming climax. This is the kind of visual filmmaking of which only the greatest artists are capable and, apart from anything else, it is the best road movie since Paris, Texas. (John Gillett)