Paysage dans le brouillard

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 hard film to watch but an unforgettable experience. I was deeply moved by the damage done to these children in the raw, emptiness of the world of this film. Running away through Greece to seek out their theoretical father in an imagined Germany, they experience confusion, violation and epic indifference to their real and imagined needs. Momentary relief and hope is found in the form of a young man traveling with a theater company, but it is fleeting. The sheer simplicity of their need remain together and to go to Germany is, by the end, all that they have.

Angelopoulos, like other artists/poets/philosophers in film, has a very specific vision of the world which he is relating. There are moments in Landscape In The Mist where our trained needs for (Hollywood) film conventions, story structure and even simple answers cries out. Yet this is far from his intent; as with poetry, the film strives to state itself with images and ideas which leave the viewer not simply awed by beauty but also perplexed and emotionally disorganized as to how or what to to feel. To judge Angelopoulos on the same standards as a showbiz product is to miss the point. He believes film is art and not necessarily entertainment. One may dislike that vision but one will invariably be enriched by the journey if one can spend the time watching it with an open mind. Angelopoulos finds funding for his films and makes them for those who care to extend themselves into someone else's vision, not to reward investors by meeting a market need. He is a powerful artist. There are reasons why his films are not well known in the US, but those reasons are also what makes them fascinating, brilliant and rare experiences.

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.

To me, this is one of the greatest movies of all time. Art and a very touching and interesting story combine each other and create this masterpiece with some unforgettable scenes, images and a mesmerizing cinematography. At the beginning, we do not see the mother of the little sisters, only hear her voice. While watching this scene, I thought that it is to make us feel that the sisters are lonely, nobody cares about them, nobody worries about them. In another scene, the sisters visit a man who is probably one of their relatives. However, he looks disturbed when he sees them. The Petrifying truck scene is a story itself. This scene is horrible in terms of content, but enchanting in terms of cinema. And sharp realism. If there is a flaw in the movie, it is the final. It was obscure and not stunning as the rest of the movie. I mean the scene takes place at night. It could have been a bit different, less obscure. Instead of commenting the end of the movie, some say that it is one of the finals that everyone draws their own conclusion, but for such a content or story, it does not seem a good idea. By the way, always, especially critics say this is a story of getting conscious or growing in wisdom, if a movie is about a little girl or boy. Well, this is not actually, the movie is much more than that and much more different. And as you guess, no cliché. The older sister is conscious anyway. She is aware of everything like an adult, even if she sometimes falls. The both sisters are very courageous and at the same time naive. I wanted to help them in the times they need. However, the weather is cold, desolate ways. Unsafe and risky. The vehicles pass them carelessly and don't stop. Probably the best Angelopoulos movie.

Landscape in the Mist is the tale of two Greek siblings (a girl and a boy) who one day decide to travel to Germany to search for his unknown father. Fifteen minutes into the film we learn that the father in question, doesn't real exist. In fact, we also learn from the children' uncle (her mother's brother) that it all has been a lie as the children are the result of different love affairs. In most conventional movies, this early discovery would ruin the plot, hence the rest of film, but here it becomes the turning point into the children' odyssey since it fuels up their desire to meet his father. From that towards, the film shows us thew siblings mixed up in the raw atmosphere of the adult world, surrounded by bleach landscapes and a misty never-ending who serves at the only witness for the children descend into adulthood. There, in the battlefield of an unknown world, our main characters encounter many challenges, but they all together manage the constant menace of a number of difficult situations, thanks in a part by a good natured youngster named Oreste. However, he is not always present for the children (due to their constant moving) and at the end, one has the feeling that after all, they are alone to face their fate; which in my opinion reflects the paradox of a new born child.

Landscape in the Mist is a piece of art, a masterpiece so well crafted that makes think about it even if you haven't watch it in years. It so powerful and yet so sad, like a misty sky in a rainy day. HIGHLY RECOMMENDABLE. IT WILL CHANGE YOUR LIFE