28 June 2009 // 10:39

31st Moscow International Film Festival. Day Nine.

The 31^st MIFF is near its completion. On Saturday, June 27, 2009 they discussed the festival results, juries defined the winners and the film critics and viewers tried to guess their preferences. Meanwhile a famous film director Theo Anglelopulos has arrived in Moscow.  

One of the contemporary most regarded film directors Theo Anglelopulos has arrived in Moscow for the 31^st Moscow International Film Festival in order to personally represent his new work “The Dust of Time” (“I skoni tou hronou”), part two of the historical panorama of the 20^th century. The film is on the list of the MIFF “Gala-Premieres”. The story tells about the past century overfilled with horror, tragedies, sorrow, pain and blood. But even among this hopeless darkness there is a “ray of light”. “There is a hope for the new century, for the future world, may be tomorrow will be different already. My film is a song about the future,” – stated the film director. “The Dust of Time” narrates also about the civil war in Greece. It separated families, a brother was against his brother. The tragedy touched also the film director – Theo Angelopulos’s father was arrested by his own nephew. The film shooting was held also in Russia: “”Before I started my work on the movie I had often visited Russia in search for the shooting spots. I can say for sure now that I know this country very well – this huge country that nurses a lot of revelations.”  Theo Angelopulos told the journalists that he had found an outstanding Russian city Kungur where in the tsar’s and communist times there had been a reppo depot for the convicted. For the film director this trip to Russia as well as to Kazakhstan, steppe landscapes so often used in the movie have become not only a cinematographic but also a personal experience.  

“The Dust of Time” heroes spend the whole life during the story, starting with careless youth until anility, from the age of 25 to 75. Surprisingly this life period is played by the same actors. According to the film director, the heroes go through their past as their present and vice versa. “The journey through time is one of the major characteristics of my personage,” – admitted one of the leading role actresses, the young French Irene Jacob who came to Moscow with the director to represent the film. “Our aim was not only to make the story as realistic as possible but also to depict the flow of time. That was the main advantage of working with Theo.” According to Irene, in spite of the fact she had to rehearse day by day the same scene, which is typical for Theo Angelopulos, the actress mixed well with the director. “I felt being a musician, a part of a big orchestra, tried to find new notes in every single scene. It is a real inspiration to see a new scene is appearing,” – added the Ms. Jacob.

Many film marked the outstanding musical constituent of “The Dust of Time”. This is a a merit of the Greek composer Eleni Karaindrou. Theo Angelopulos cooperated with her within 7 films.  “I believe Eleni Karaindrou is my twin but in musical sense. The things I try to express with the help of cinematographic methods are expressed by her with the help of music,” – said the maestro.  

During the discussion with the journalists they began to talk about the film director personality. When asked about his role in the modern cinematography Angelopulos answered very originally as he always does. During the latest Cannes Film Festival he read in newspapers that Lars Von Trier publicly proclaimed himself the “greatest film director of the universe” and announced that many others would have loved to say the same but did not hazard. “I’m not sure whether I belong to the second category. It is up to you to decide,” – said Mr. Angelopulos. He also spoke about another film director – Andrey Tarkovsky to whom Mr. Von Trier dedicated his latest movie “Antichrist”. They got acquainted in Rome and even stayed in one apartment for a while. Tarkovsky was the one to introduce Angelopulos to the famous Italian writer and scenarist Tonino Guerra who later became a friend and co-author for Theo.

The film director spoke also about his background – 1960s, the time when he first came to Paris. At that time the young Angelopulos started working as a check-taker in a cinema and watched films all nights long. “I saw all the films of that time,” – he said. “And those years were the period of the cinematographic renaissance, a new film tradition was emerging. It was a real explosion – Antonioni, Fellini – those people appeared within my sight… I don’t know whether a similar period happens ever again.”  According to the maestro, today in cinematography as well as in society on the whole there is a period of total chaos. “I do hope that very soon new film director will appear and will give the cinematograph new guides,” – concluded Theo Angelopulos.