Theodoros Angelopoulos

Theodoros Angelopoulos (Greek: Θόδωρος Αγγελόπουλος) (born 27 April 1935) is a Greek filmmaker, screenwriter and film producer.

Life

Angelopoulos studied law at the National and Kapodistrian University of Athens, but after his military service went to Paris to attend the Sorbonne. He soon dropped out to study film at the IDHEC (Institute of Advanced Cinematographic Studies) before returning to Greece. There, he worked as a journalist and film critic.

Film career

Angelopoulos began making films after the 1967 coup that began the Greek military dictatorship known as the Regime of the Colonels. He made his first short film in 1968 and in the 1970s he began making a series of political feature films about modern Greece: Days of '36 (Meres Tou 36, 1972), The Travelling Players (O Thiassos, 1975) and The Hunters (I Kynighoi, 1977). He quickly established a characteristic style, marked by slow, episodic and ambiguous narrative structures as well as long takes (The Travelling Players, for example, consists of only 80 shots in about four hours of film). These takes often include meticulously choreographed and complicated scenes involving many actors. His regular collaborators include the cinematographer Giorgos Arvanitis, the screenwriter Tonino Guerra and the composer Eleni Karaindrou.

Criticism

Angelopoulos is considered by British film critics Derek Malcolm^[1] and David Thomson^[2] as one one of the world's greatest living directors.

Awards

• THE BROADCAST (1968)
  • 1968. Greek Critics' Award, Thessaloniki Film Festival.

• RECONSTRUCTION (1970)
  • 1970. Best Director, Best Cinematography, Best Film, Best Actress Awards, Critics' Award, Thessaloniki Film Festival.
  • 1971. Georges Sadoul Award as «Best Film of the Year Shown in France).
  • 1971. Best Foreign Film Award, Hyeres Film Festival.

• DAYS OF '36 (1970)
  • 1972. Best Director, Best Cinematography Awards, Thessaloniki Film Festival
  • International Film Critics Association (FIPRESCI) Award for Best Film, Berlin Film Festival.

• The Travelling Players (1974-75)
  • 1975. International Film Critics Award (FIPRESCI), Cannes.
  • 1975. Best Film, Best Director, Best Screenplay, Best Actor, Best Actress, Greek Critics Association Awards, International Thessaloniki Film Festival
  • Interfilm Award, «Forum» 1975 Berlin Festival.
  • 1976. Best film of the Year, British Film Institute,
  • Italian Film Critics Association: Best Film in the World, 1970-80.
  • FIPRESCI: One of the Top Films in the History of Cinema.
  • Grand Prix of the Arts, Japan.
  • Best Film of the Year, Japan.
  • Golden Age Award, Brussels.

• THE HUNTERS (1977)
  • 1978. Golden Hugo Award for Best Film, Chicago Film Festival.

• MEGALEXANDROS (1980)
  • 1980. Golden Lion and International Film Critics Award (FIPRESCI), Venice Film Festival.

• Voyage to Cythera (1983)
  • Best Screenplay and International Film Critics Award (FIPRESCI) Best Film Awards, 1984 Cannes Film Festival
  • Critics' Award, Rio Film Festival.

• Landscape in the Mist (1988)
  • 1988. Silver Lion Award for Best Director, Venice Film Festival.
  • 1989. Felix (Best European Film of the Year) Award
  • Golden Hugo Award for Best Director
  • Silver Plaque for Best Cinematography, Chicago Film Festival.

• Ulysses' Gaze (1995)
  • Grand Jury Prize and International Critics' Prize, 1995 Cannes Film Festival.^[3]
  • Felix of the Critics (Film of the Year 1995).

• Eternity and a Day (1998)
  • Palme d'Or, 1998 Cannes Film Festival^[4]
  • Prize of the Ecumenical Jury

Filmography

• Broadcast (I Ekpombi) (1968)
• Reconstruction (Anaparastasis) (1970)
• Days of 36 (Meres tou 36) (1972)
• The Travelling Players (O Thiassos) (1975)
• The Hunters (I Kinighi) (1977)
• Alexander the Great (O Megalexandros) (1980)
• Athens (Athina, epistrofi stin Akropoli) (1983)
• Voyage to Cythera (Taxidi stin Kythera) (1984)
• The Beekeeper (O Melissokomos) (1986)
• Landscape in the Mist (Topio stin Omichli) (1988)
• The Suspended Step of the Stork (To Meteoro Vima tou Pelargou) (1991)
• Ulysses' Gaze (To Vlemma tou Odyssea) (1995)
• Lumière and Company (Lumière et compagnie) (1995)
• Eternity and a Day (Mia aiwniothta kai mia mera) (1998)
• The Weeping Meadow (Trilogia I: To Livadi pou dakryzei) (2004)
• Chacun son cinéma (2007) (Segment of portmanteau film, with contributions from 33 directors)
• The Dust of Time (2009)

References

External links

• Official Site, languages: GR, EN, IT, FR, DE, ES, JP
• Senses of Cinema: Great Directors Critical Database
• Theo Angelopoulos at the Internet Movie Database

Persondata
NAME	Angelopoulos, Theodoros
ALTERNATIVE NAMES
SHORT DESCRIPTION	Film director and screenwriter
DATE OF BIRTH	April 27, 1936
PLACE OF BIRTH	Athens  Greece
DATE OF DEATH
PLACE OF DEATH