Reconstruction (1970)
"Anaparastasi" (original title)

A woman murders her husband, upon his return home after a long absence, with the complicity of the lover who has relieved her loneliness. Costas Ghoussis, an emigrant recently returned to ... See full summary »

Director:

Theodoros Angelopoulos

Writers:

Theodoros Angelopoulos, Stratis Karras,

Stars:

Toula Stathopoulou, Yannis Totsikas, Thanos Grammenos

6 wins & 1 nomination.

Cast

Credited cast:
Toula Stathopoulou	...	Eleni
Yannis Totsikas	...	Hristos Gikas
Thanos Grammenos	...	Eleni's Brother
Petros Hoedas	...	Investigator
Mihalis Fotopoulos	...	Kostas Gousis
Yannis Balaskas	...	Police Officer
Nicos Alevras	...	Invenstigator's Assistant
Rest of cast listed alphabetically:
Alekos Alexiou
Theodoros Angelopoulos	...	Journalist
Giorgos Arvanitis
Mersoula Kapsali
Adonis Lykouresis	...	Journalist (as Tonis Lykouresis)
Christos Paliyannopoulos	...	Journalist
Telis Samandas

Storyline

A woman murders her husband, upon his return home after a long absence, with the complicity of the lover who has relieved her loneliness. Costas Ghoussis, an emigrant recently returned to his native country, is coming back from the fields, a shovel on his shoulder. He pushes open the garden gate in front of his house and calls his wife: Eleni! She does not answer; the reason: she is hidden behind the door of the kitchen with another man, Christos, a gamekeeper, the lover that she took during her husband's absence. Just as Costas crosses the threshold he is attacked and strangled. Despite their precautions, a relative of the victim suspects them and alerts the police. The criminals confess their crime. The reconstruction is that of the examining magistrate, whose inquiries are interspersed with sequences of the crime - although the actual murder is never shown - and with a social documentary which a TV unit (including the director himself) is making about the crime and the village.

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Genres:

Crime | Drama

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Details

Country:

Greece

Language:

Greek

Release Date:

19 April 1979 (Turkey)

Also Known As:

Reconstruction

Filming Locations:

Ioannina, Greece

Company Credits

Technical Specs

Runtime:

100 min 110 min

Sound Mix:

Mono

Color:

Black and White

Aspect Ratio:

1.37 : 1

Did You Know?

Connections

Referenced in Oi diaplekomenoi: Episode #1.3 (2000)

User Reviews

An old old story beautifully filmed

This film portrays multiple reconstructions of a domestic crime in a poverty stricken and dying part of rural post war Greece. For the director, portraying the rock strewn environment of a community in decline is a key message, giving us beautiful if somewhat depressing and repetitive images. This is a setting for the crime and subsequent investigation, which is of limited interest. This true story is not an unusual one in life or films/ literature and the multiple reconstructions, very slow pace and banal setting further rob it of dramatic tension. The reconstructions specifically lead to repetition and perhaps some confusion. Characterisation and scenes are well handled, though again tending to follow expected patterns, perhaps precisely because it is based on court transcripts. Overall, critically acclaimed and visually stunning, but you may find it seems rather longer than it actually is.