Mythical Films of Theo Angelopoulos:

Abstract

Theo Angelopoulos establishes his film category with his distinctive long takes and epic storytelling. His films won international recognition with a strong mythical tone created through all aspects of character, cinematography, and narration. As a filmmaker in the 21st century, Angelopoulos sets an example of retelling regional traumas to the global audience with an unconventional style. By comparing Angelopoulos’ films with Bakhtin’s Greek romance, the thesis will analyze his approach to reshaping personal stories into modern myths. The correlations between his characters, cinematography, and narrations establish a surrealistic world rooted in reality. The struggle for self-identity and the passivity of an individual become Angelopoulos' primary concern. He further amplifies and externalizes them through wide shots, the long lens, and consistently moving long takes. Compressing several historical times into one sequence shot, he blurs the boundary between reality and memory, the past and the present, consciousness and subconsciousness. Emphasizing on the expansion of time, his stories contain flexible time and space that allow more influence of chance instead of a causal effect. With these artistic choices, Angelopoulos allows more ambiguity in his films and finds the collective memory and emotions shared by the global audience. He connects and encourages his audience by providing a common dream with space to fill and imagine.