The Theo Angelopoulos Collection Vol 3

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The Theo Angelopoulos Collection Volume 3

Ulysses' Gaze (1995) Eternity and a Day (1998)

The Weeping Meadow (2004) The Dust of Time (2008)

(aka "To vlemma tou Odyssea" or "Lo sguardo di Ulisse" or "Der Blick des Odysseus" or "Le regard d'Ulysse" )

directed by Theo Angelopoulos
Greece/France/Italy/Germany/UK/Federal Republic of Yugoslavia/Bosnia/Herzegovina/Albania/Romania 1995

A Greek-American film director (Harvey Keitel, THE PIANO) attends a screening of his latest controversial film in a small Greek village. The screening is met with violent resistance by the town's religious factions and the film screening's sponsors advise the director to leave town; however, he has returned to Greece for another reason: tracking down three undeveloped reels of footage shot by the Minnakis brothers at the turn of the century (possibly the first footage ever shot in Greece). In tracing the lost reels through Albania, Romania, and into the war-torn former Yugoslavia (this was 1994, remember), he follows the same journey of the Minnakis brothers in their attempt to escape capture (and relives much of it as director Theo Angelopoulos seamlessly merges the past and the present) to a film museum curator - a "collector of vanished gazes" - (Erland Josephson, PASSION OF ANNA) who was entrusted with the reels due to his knowledge of early film processing techniques. Throughout the director's "odyssey" he thrice meets Maia Morgenstern (NOSTRADAMUS) in three incarnations as 1) a film researcher, 2) a woman who assists his secret entry into Sarajevo, and - most enchantingly (and tragically) as 3) the curator's daughter (although she is billed in reference materials as "Ulysses' Wives").

Eric Cotenas

Poster

Theatrical Release: 1 November 1997 (USA)

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DVD Review: Artificial Eye (The Theo Angelopoulos Collection Volume ) - Region 2 - PAL

Big thanks to Eric Cotenas for the Review!

DVD Box Cover		CLICK to order from:
Distribution	Artificial Eye Region 2 - PAL
Runtime	2:49:00 (4% PAL speedup)
Video	1.74:1 Original Aspect Ratio 16X9 enhanced Average Bitrate: 4.61 mb/s PAL 720x576 25.00 f/s
	NOTE: The Vertical axis represents the bits transferred per second. The Horizontal is the time in minutes.
Bitrate
Audio	English/Greek/Bulgarian/Albanian/Serbian/Romanian Dolby Digital 2.0 stereo
Subtitles	English, none
Features	Release Information: Studio: Artificial Eye Aspect Ratio: Widescreen anamorphic - 1.74:1 Edition Details: • none DVD Release Date: 26 March 2012 Slim Amaray in Cardboard Slipcase Chapters 12

Comments

Although clean-looking and seemingly faithful to the drab, wintry and war-torn Eastern European setttings, Artificial Eye's dual-layer, progressive, anamorphic encoding of this near-three-hour film appears to be an older master. Some edge-enhancement is evident; but this is probably the best English-friendly rendering of the film at the moment. The Dolby Digital 2.0 rendering of the Dolby Stereo track is enveloping with some subtle atmospheric effects (and some occasional jolting loud noises and raised voices), but mainly serves the film's intermittent music score. Optional English subtitles are supplied for the non-English dialogue only. There are absolutely no extra.

The out-of-print 2001 Fox Lorber disc is likely derived from the same master (and likely a PAL-NTSC conversion).

- Eric Cotenas

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Screen Captures

(aka "Mia aioniotita kai mia mera" or "Die Ewigkeit und ein Tag" or "L'eternità e un giorno" or "L'éternité et un jour" )

directed by Theo Angelopoulos
Greece/France/Italy/Germany 1998

Poet Alexander (Bruno Ganz, THE AMERICAN FRIEND) is dying and plans to check into the hospital the next day. He bids farewell to his faithful housekeeper Urania (Eleni Gerasimidou) and attempts to find a home for his dog. He gives his wife's letters to his daughter (Iris Chatziantoniou, DESERT SKY) - including one recounting an idyllic seaside outing - and is shattered to learn that her husband has sold his childhood home by the sea. Wandering around the city, he rescues a young Albanian illegal immigrant (Achileas Skevis) who continually undermines his attempts to get the child back across the border. Along the way, we flashback to Alexander's past in which his work - including attempting to finish a poem by an Italian-born Greek poet (Fabrizio Bentivoglio, REMEMBER ME MY LOVE) - caused him to emotionally neglect from his wife Anna (Isabelle Renauld, PREY). Like the poet - who did not speak the language and spent the rest of his days "buying words" from the locals - Alexander has run out of time; but his memories and his experiences with the child give him the answer to the question "How long is tomorrow?"

Eric Cotenas

Poster

Theatrical Release: 28 May 1999 (USA)

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DVD Review: Artificial Eye (The Theo Angelopoulos Collection Volume ) - Region 2 - PAL

Big thanks to Eric Cotenas for the Review!

Distribution	Artificial Eye Region 2 - PAL
Runtime	2:07:24
Video	1.75:1 Original Aspect Ratio 16X9 enhanced Average Bitrate: 4.64 mb/s PAL 720x576 25.00 f/s
	NOTE: The Vertical axis represents the bits transferred per second. The Horizontal is the time in minutes.
Bitrate
Audio	Greek/Italian Dolby Digital 2.0 stereo
Subtitles	English, none
Features	Release Information: Studio: Artificial Eye Aspect Ratio: Widescreen anamorphic - 1.75:1 Edition Details: • none DVD Release Date: Slim Amaray in Cardboard Slipcase Chapters 12

Comments

The Artificial Eye transfer appears to be the same master as that used for the Australian and Greek DVDs (the latter was supervised by Angelopoulos himself) compared HERE. Framing is identical (earlier non-anamorphic transfers were framed at 1.66:1, but the 1.75:1 aspect ratio here does not impede any compositions), although the colors seem a touch colder (although they do not vary as much as the other import editions reviewed in the aforementioned comparison). With the exception of the sparse music score, the Dolby Digital 2.0 mix is almost monophonic; however, even the busiest of Angelopoulos' trademark compositions here are not as buzzing with noise and activity as those in the other films in this set. There re absolutely no extras (the OOP New Yorker disc contained some featurettes on Angelopoulos).

- Eric Cotenas

DVD Menus

Screen Captures

(aka "Trilogia: To livadi pou dakryzei" or "La terre qui pleure" or "Eleni" or "Trilogie: Die Erde weint" )

directed by Theo Angelopoulos
Greece 2004

Angelopoulos moves his forces like a juggernaut to stage formidable set-pieces, coups de théâtre that impress with their vast scale without necessarily engaging our emotions. In his most remarkable feat, he constructs a low-lying town in a dry lakebed only to drown it for a spectacular inundation. There follows a floating funeral on a water-borne raft, players posed beside the open coffin, as a flotilla of boats proceeds with a flourish of black flags. Prows part the water as the camera glides ahead, like a courtier preparing the way, but a sudden change of angle confronts us with a massive phalanx of figures reflected in the floodwater, with blue sky streaking the top of the frame.

While primal drums beat, village women dance around a flaming bonfire bearing icons, turning to superstition to lift the “dark curse” that sent torrential floods. Later, a demonstration of tribalist revenge puts dozens of dead sheep hanging from a tree (the camera panning down to the blood mingling in the mud). More than before, Angelopoulos here succumbs to a cosmic miserabilism, allowing the churning dark clouds above and the mud below to seep into his work.

Excerpt of review from Excerpt from Robert Kessler's comments at Bright Lights Big City HERE located HERE

Posters

Theatrical Release: 20 February 2004 (Greece)

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DVD Review: Artificial Eye (The Theo Angelopoulos Collection III) - Region 2 - PAL

Big thanks to Eric Cotenas for the Review!

Distribution	Artificial Eye Region 2 - PAL
Runtime	2:42:20 (4% PAL speedup)
Video	1.78:1 Original Aspect Ratio 16X9 enhanced Average Bitrate: 5.23 mb/s PAL 720x576 25.00 f/s
	NOTE: The Vertical axis represents the bits transferred per second. The Horizontal is the time in minutes.
Bitrate
Audio	Greek Dolby Digital 2.0 stereo
Subtitles	English, none
Features	Release Information: Studio: Artificial Eye Aspect Ratio: Widescreen anamorphic - 1.78:1 Edition Details: • Interview with Theo Angelopoulos (4:3; 29:09) • Theatrical Trailer (4:3; 2:21) • Theo Angelopoulos Biography/Filmography DVD Release Date: Slimcase in Cardboard Slipcase Chapters 17

Comments

Disc three of the Theo Angelopoulos Collection III appears to be a direct port of Artificial Eye's own 2005 indivdiual release of THE WEEPING MEADOW (compared with the New Yorker Films and Sandrews discs here: http://www.dvdbeaver.com/film/DVDCompare11/weeping_meadow_dvd_review.htm). The collection disc's bitrate, running time, menus, and extras are identical (and the VOB file dates are all from 2005). Like the 2005 disc, this edition only features a 2.0 stereo mix (the end credits sport a DTS logo).

The 2005 single disc edition was titled TRILOGY: THE WEEPING MEADOW. Either due to Angelopoulos' passing during the filming of the final trilogy, or the promotion of the second part (THE DUST OF TIME) in English-speaking countries without its designation as part of a trilogy, the title on the slipcase cover, the disc's cover and artwork, is simply THE WEEPING MEADOW (as it is titled on the US DVD edition).

- Eric Cotenas

DVD Menus

Screen Captures

(aka "Trilogia II: I skoni tou hronou" or "La polvere del tempo")

directed by Theo Angelopoulos
Greece/Italy/Germany/Russia 2008

Production has stalled on the latest film by Greek/American director A (Willem Dafoe, THE ANTICHRIST) which details the extraordinary efforts of his mother Eleni (Irene Jacob, THE DOUBLE LIFE OF VERONIQUE) to reunite with his musician father Spiros (Michel Piccoli, BELLE DE JOUR) in America after he was jailed trying to sneak her out of the country and she was exiled to Russia (where she met Jakob [Bruno Ganz, NOSFERATU]). When A's troubled daughter, also name Eleni (Tiziana Pfiffner, SUMMER OF DREAMS) - the product of a broken marriage with Helga (Christiane Paul, IN JULY) - disappears, A flies back from Rome to Berlin to find her. At the same time, his mother Eleni, Spiros, and Jakob have returned to Germany to ring in the New Year. The reunion stirs up old hurts (rather than heading to Israel when given the chance, Jakob went to America with Eleni knowing that she would seek out Spiros), while A tries to find his daughter without worrying his parents.

The final completed film of Greek director Theo Angelopoulos - who died in an accident during the shooting of THE OTHER SEA (the third film in his trilogy of which this film is the second part and THE WEEPING MEADOW is the first) - THE DUST OF TIME is rather uneven. Dafoe is given little to do but run around during the present day parts of the first half of the film while intercut flashbacks tell the story of his mother (played by Jacob without old age make-up) and father (played by an actor who has his face averted from the camera throughout all of the flashbacks). Angelopoulos merges the past and present and reality and film in these scenes, which are acted mostly in English by the leads and scored with music that we first hear performed by the orchestra and pianist that are working on the score of A's film. The film starts to pick up when Jacob and Ganz appear together on screen (first in flashback), and then is riveting when they are later joined by Piccoli (first seen going through an airport body scanner - now you tell me those things aren't invasive), who plays only the present day version of Spiros. Jacob, in varying degrees of old age make-up and gray-streaked hair, is never out of her depth in the company of the more seasoned Piccoli and Ganz, and the present day scenes of the three of them revisiting the past could have made a more tightly focused movie. The film was photographed by Andreas Sinanos, who shot six features for Angelopoulos (as well as his short for TO EACH HIS OWN CINEMA) and scored by regular collaborator Eleni Karaindrou.

Eric Cotenas

Poster

Theatrical Release: 12 February 2009 (Greece)

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DVD Review: Artificial Eye (The Theo Angelopoulos Collection Volume ) - Region 0 - PAL

Big thanks to Eric Cotenas for the Review!

Distribution	Artificial Eye Region 0 - PAL
Runtime	2:02:28 (4% PAL speedup)
Video	1.86:1 Original Aspect Ratio 16X9 enhanced Average Bitrate: 5.8 mb/s PAL 720x576 25.00 f/s
	NOTE: The Vertical axis represents the bits transferred per second. The Horizontal is the time in minutes.
Bitrate
Audio	English/Russian/German/Greek Dolby Digital 5.1; English/Russian/German/Greek Dolby Digital 2.0 stereo
Subtitles	English, none
Features	Release Information: Studio: Artificial Eye Aspect Ratio: Widescreen anamorphic - 1.86:1 Edition Details: • none DVD Release Date: Slimcase in Cardboard Slipcase Chapters 12

Comments

Artificial Eye's dual-layer, anamorphic, progressive image features some unfortunate edge-enhancement (particularly noticeable in the last capture); however, it is currently the only fully English-friendly version available (no US edition has yet been announced for this four-year-old film which is also the final completed picture by the late director). 5.1 and 2.0 tracks are available, and the optional subtitles cover only the Greek, German, and Russian dialogue (however, much of the film is in English). There are absolutely no extras.

It is likely a direct port of Artificial Eye's January 2012 single disc edition (FOUND HERE).

- Eric Cotenas

DVD Menus