Ulysses' Gaze (1995)
"To vlemma tou Odyssea" (original title)

A, a Greek filmmaker living in exile in the United States, returns to his native Ptolemas to attend a special screening of one of his extremely controversial films. But A's real interest ... See full summary »

Director:

Theodoros Angelopoulos

Writers:

Theodoros Angelopoulos (screenplay), Tonino Guerra,

Stars:

Harvey Keitel, Erland Josephson, Maia Morgenstern

10 wins & 6 nominations.

Cast

Cast overview, first billed only:
Harvey Keitel	...	A
Erland Josephson	...	S., Film Museum Curator
Maia Morgenstern	...	'Ulysses' Wife
Thanasis Vengos	...	Taxi Driver
Giorgos Mihalakopoulos	...	Friend and Journalist
Costas Santas
Dora Volanaki	...	Old Woman
Mania Papadimitriou
Giorgos Konstas
Thanos Grammenos
Alekos Oudinotis
Angel Ivanof
Ljuba Tadic
Vaggelis Liodakis
Gert Llanaj

Storyline

A, a Greek filmmaker living in exile in the United States, returns to his native Ptolemas to attend a special screening of one of his extremely controversial films. But A's real interest lies elsewhere--the mythical reels of the very first film shot by the Manakia brothers, who, at the dawn of the age of cinema, tirelessly criss-crossed the Balkans and, without regard for national and ethnic strife, recorded the region's history and customs. Did these primitive, never-developed images really exist? If so, where are they? - "Why A? It's an alphabetical choice. Every filmmaker remembers the first time he looked through the viewfinder of a camera. It is a moment that is not so much the discovery of cinema--but the discovery of the world. But there comes a moment when the filmmaker begins to doubt his own capacity to see things, when he no longer knows if his gaze is right and innocent." --Theo Angelopoulos

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Plot Keywords:

balkans | long take | bucharest | holy grail | murder | 

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Genres:

Drama | War

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Details

Country:

Greece France Italy Germany UK Federal Republic of Yugoslavia Bosnia and Herzegovina Albania Romania

Language:

English Greek Bulgarian Albanian Serbian Romanian Kurdish

Release Date:

1 November 1997 (USA)

Also Known As:

Ulysses' Gaze

Filming Locations:

Belgrade, Serbia

Box Office

Gross:

$42,202 (USA)

Company Credits

Production Co:

Paradis Films, Basic Cinematografica, Istituto Luce

Technical Specs

Runtime:

176 min

Sound Mix:

Dolby Digital

Color:

Black and White Color (Eastmancolor)

Aspect Ratio:

1.66 : 1

Did You Know?

Trivia

There is a scene around the 10th minute where a woman is singing a famous mourning song in Kurdish called "Ahmade Mala Musa (Ahmad of Musa family)". It is maybe referring to Kurdish refugees in Greece.

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Quotes

Taxi Driver: [talking to A] Know something? Greece is dying... We're dying as a people. We've come full circle. I don't know for how many thousands years, among broken stones and statues... and now we're dying. But if Greece is to die, she'd better do it quickly, because the agony lasts too long, and makes too much noise.

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Connections

Followed by Eternity and a Day (1998)

User Reviews

Why Americans perhaps are voting European films too low ..;

I have remarked that most American film critics are voting a lot of European films too low. I think the reason why is that they have difficulties to understand them because they know too little of the European history. I think that this film is an example of it. You have to have a very deep insight in the history of Greece and the Balkan to understand this film. Beside the beautiful cinematography, there is more to look for an understanding. It's a pity that a lot of Americans are knowing so little of history, because so there critics are missing a lot!