Every so often I encounter a work or works of art that has/have a - TopicsExpress

Every so often I encounter a work or works of art that has/have a radical influence on my life and my being. Michaelangelos Moses; Rodins Burghers of Calais; Monets water lily panels;El Grecos Christos; Miklos Jancsos movie Electra, my love; Mikhail Cacoyanniss Iphigenia. Thomas Manns Dr Faustus. The list is endless. And this weekend, ten years after its release, Theo Angelopouloss monumental TRILOGY: THE WEEPING MEADOW. This Greek cinema masters work is certainly not popular - I remember William Pretorius telling us that during the preview of his brilliant ULYSSES’ GAZE the local critics left the cinema one by one after about an hour. Whether Trilogy: The Weeping Meadow was ever distributed in local cinemas, Im not sure. But thank the Universe for DVDs and mail ordering services. Theo Angelopouloss movies are slow, deliberately slow, painfully slow. In ETERNITY AND A DAY he takes endless minutes to zoom in on a wedding. Yet every image is unforgettable, pregnant with symbolism and emotion. Its a far cry from epic action like Gladiator or even Ben Hur for that matter. From the breathtaking opening shot with the director saying in voice over Scene One: a group of Greek refugees fleeing from Odessa... to the very last wail it is Greek tragedy without grandiose sets and opulent costumes. The look is bleak. Water. Rain, Mist. Snow, Steam. But the bigger this masters canvass, the finer his brushstrokes. No close ups. People, or to borrow from Joseph Loseys film, Figures in a Landscape. It starts off in 1919 and ends in 1944 and was supposed to be followed by two more installments. Im sure at stages I forgot to breathe. Its difficult to read subtitles through tears. Apart from the visual/physical and the emotional landscape there is another: the landscape of sound. Incessant rain. Steam trains whistles. Foghorns. Unseen people talking. Sirens. Music. A lonely violin. An unexpected accordion.... And scene after scene of unforgettable, muted, mysterious beauty. Water. A funeral procession on a float. Boats. Oars. A ship. And almost as in Anton Chekhovs Three Sisters the yearning for Moscow, America is regarded as Utopia.... Alas. The meadow weeps. Its the history of Greece in the first part of the 20th century as experienced by Eleni and Alexis. Towards the end (the film runs 162 precious, intoxicating minutes) there is a brief scene between two enemy soldiers.... Words fail me. Braam Muller, het jy dit gesien? Christo Compion, klim op die bus. En Liby Nel en Noelene Kotze, dis so so so n Saterdagoggend gevolg deur n lang en innige middagete....... Wie is die wonderlike predikant van George wat my destyds van Theo Angelopoulos se dood verwittig het? Ek sal graag wil gesels.