ULYSSES’ GAZE Movie Review

The Look of Ulysses
To Vlemma Tou Odyssea
The Gaze of Ulysses

A Greek-American filmmaker whose name is only given as A … (Harvey Keitel) returns to Greece after decades in the U.S. to attend a festival of his work. Obsessed with the history of the Balkans—particularly in light of the current conflict—and obsessed as well with the history of the cinema, A … is intrigued by rumors of the existence of three reels of film, supposedly photographed by the legendary Manakia brothers, that represent the first film footage ever shot in the Balkans. He is determined to track the film down. Embarking on a Ulysses-like odyssey that will not only take him physically from Greece to Sarajevo but also spiritually from the present to the past, A … gradually discovers deeply revelatory truths about the borders between countries, the borders between men and women, and the borders between history and cinema. Their common bond, the passage of time, is an important character in this contemplative, three-hour, visionary master-work by Greek filmmaker Theo Angelopoulos. Though visually stunning, the movie's rhythm demands attentiveness and patience, as does the dialogue which at first seems more stilted than stylized. Stay with it. When you come out the other side, you'll feel—correctly—that you've completed an eye-opening spiritual odyssey of your own. Grand Jury Prize, Cannes Film Festival.

NEXT STOP … Landscape in the Mist, The Traveling Players, Before the Rain

1995 173m/C GR FR IT Harvey Keitel, Maia Morgenstern, Erland Josephson, Thanassis Vengos, Yorgos Michalokopoulos, Dora Volonaki; D: Theo Angelopoulos; W: Theo Angelopoulos, Tonino Guerra, Petros Markaris; C: Yorgos Arvanitis; M: Eleni Karaindrou. Cannes Film Festival ‘95: Grand Jury Prize. VHS FXL