The Travelling Players (1975)

Greece, 1939-1952: Fascist, Nazi, and Communist conflict, as seen through the eyes of a family of travelling provincial players.

Director:

Theodoros Angelopoulos

Writer:

Theodoros Angelopoulos

Stars:

Eva Kotamanidou, Vangelis Kazan, Aliki Georgouli

12 wins & 2 nominations.

Cast

Credited cast:
Eva Kotamanidou	...	Elektra
Vangelis Kazan	...	Aegisthus
Aliki Georgouli	...	Elektra's Mother
Kiriakos Katrivanos	...	Pylades
Stratos Pahis	...	Elektra's Father
Nina Papazaphiropoulou	...	Old Woman
Giannis Fyrios	...	Accordionist
Alekos Boubis	...	Old Man
Maria Vassiliou	...	Chrysothemis
Grigoris Evangelatos	...	Poet
Petros Zarkadis	...	Orestes
Kosta Stiliaris	...	Militia Leader
Rest of cast listed alphabetically:
Mary Antonopoulou
Katerina Bourlou
Takis Doukatos	...	Prison Governor (as T. Doukakos)

Storyline

A group of traveling players peregrinates through Greece attempting to perform the popular erotic drama Golfo The Shepherdess. In a first level the film focuses on the historical events between 1939 and 1952 as they are experienced by the traveling players and as they affect the villages which they visit: The last year of Metaxas' fascist dictatorship, the war against the Italians, the Nazi occupation, the liberation, the civil war between left and right wingers, the British and American interventionism in the Greek politics. In a second level the characters live their own drama of jealousy and betrayal, with its roots in the ancient myth of the House of Atreus. Agamemnon, a Greek refugee from Minor Asia, goes to war against the Italians in 1940, joins the resistance against the Germans, and is executed by them after being betrayed by Clytemnestra and Aegisthos. Aegisthos, Clytemnestra's lover, is an informer and collaborator working with the German occupiers. Orestes, son of ...

---

Plot Keywords:

male nudity | 1950s | 1940s | 1930s | brechtian | 

---

Genres:

Drama | History | Music | War

---

Details

Country:

Greece

Language:

Greek

Release Date:

6 September 1976 (Denmark)

Also Known As:

El viaje de los comediantes

Filming Locations:

Ioannina, Greece

Company Credits

Production Co:

Papalios Productions

Technical Specs

Runtime:

230 min

Sound Mix:

Stereo

Color:

Color

Aspect Ratio:

1.66 : 1

Did You Know?

Trivia

Included among the "1001 Movies You Must See Before You Die", edited by Steven Schneider.

---

Quotes

Elektra's Father: [before he is executed by the Germans] I came cross the sea, from Ionia. Where did you come from?

---

Connections

Referenced in Kapou se xero: Episode #1.4 (2001)

User Reviews

Travelling players in life..

"The Travelling Players", one of the early films of Theo Angelopoulos, shows the vast difference between the talented rising director of 1975 that had something to say, and of the bourgeois famous director of 1998 ("Eternity And A Day") that won the Cannes award but had nothing left to say.

A sprawling epic running at around 4 hours, the film follows a group of touring actors performing a theatrical play across Greece between 1939 and 1952. The focus is on the troubled modern history of Greece during the period (a fascist dictatorship, resistance against the Italians, German occupation, civil war), seen through a series of warped desolate sequences drenched in languor, and also an apotheosis of traditional folklore, music, theater, rural and urban landscapes. Most of these scenes exhibit a rare poetical sensibility, while a few are a bit clumsy, but still interesting.

Couple that with the drama that unfolds within the group of players, and you've got a true masterpiece. Basically what we see is a loose adaptation of Aeschylus' ancient tragedy "Oresteia" (the father Agamemnon, the adulterous mother Clytamnestra, her lover Aegisthus, the avenging daughter Elektra, the avenging son Orestes etc). In the end, the group of actors stands severely rearranged through a painful and dividing historical period, shadows of themselves in a shadow of a country. The film ends as a perfect circle just the way it began, a metaphor for life itself.