Topio stin omihli

I saw this movie when it was playing in Berkeley in 1990. This is one of the most beautiful and haunting films I have ever seen. Filled with scenes of mythic beauty and magical realism. It is, on the surface, about two siblings search for their father, but it is also about the search for something both less obvious and more universal. It haunted my dreams for months and some of the images in this film have stayed with me to this day. If you are of a philosophical bent and are open to the experience, I believe you will enjoy this film very much.

A quest for an unknown father becomes an odyssey into adulthood for two illegitimate Greek children, traveling alone the length of their country in a hopeless attempt to trace the whereabouts of a man they know only from the bedside fairy tales told by their mother. The journey is often grim and brutal, but is also filled by occasional magic, transforming their search into a sometimes sweet, sometimes bitter reflection of childhood mysteries and adolescent pain.

The reticent screenplay and slow, deliberate rhythms will likely be tedious to anyone with a TV-damaged attention span, but the same understated detachment can sometimes have a devastating impact, for example during a rape scene made all the more chilling for taking place just out of view, and in total silence. Discriminating viewers able to avoid nodding off into their popcorn will find it a film of rare beauty, with an emotional resonance to match the often haunting imagery.

A broad social criticism on contemporary Greece of the 1980's. Some scenes more successful than others, and it does drag a bit and is, as is usual for Angelopoulos, a bit contrived. Worth making the effort for anyway. The most intense scenes are the rape scene which happens out of sight and consists of one long slow dolly shot, and the wedding scene in which the future of the bride is given metaphor by a dying horse being dragged down the road by a truck.

Seen the movie in HK International Film Festival over 16 years ago and still could not stop crying whenever I think of the kids in the movie. Be prepare for a sad story. Yet, the whole movie was filmed so artistically and many scenes are so creative (esp. at the age of the production.) This is the only movie still linger in my brain from time to time. Still miss the kids in the movie and wish to be there to get them out of the difficult situations. It is the power of the movie, the power of the director/writer, the little actress and actor. No more description can replace the movie itself. To fill up lines - being a mom of 2 now after the years, I miss the kids in the movie even more.

A road movie about two children (Voula and Alexandre) searching for their father who is supposed to live in Germany. Their obsession for this father figure will take them to the boundaries between childhood and adolescence.

"Landscape in the Mist" was Angelopoulos' first film to be distributed in the United States, being distributed by New Yorker Films. This also happens to be the first of his films that I have seen, and one of the first Greek films, for that matter. (If I have seen more than ten Greek films I would be surprised.) The concept is great, but what really sells the film is some of the strong imagery. The most gripping part of the entire film was when a helicopter came and lifted something out of the water... it was captivating and seemed to possess far more meaning than it possibly should have.