The Travelling Players

The Travelling Players

Poster for The Travelling Players
Directed by Theodoros Angelopoulos
Produced by Giorgis Samiotis
Written by Theo Angelopoulos
Starring Eva Kotamanidou
Aliki Georgouli
Vangelis Kazan
Stratos Pahis
Maria Vassiliou
Petros Zarkadis
Kiriakos Katrivanos
Giannis Fyrios
Nina Papazaphiropoulou
Alekos Boubis
Grigoris Evangelatos
Kosta Stiliaris
Music by Loukianos Kilaidonis
Edited by Takis Davlopoulos
Giorgos Triandafyllou
Distributed by Papalios Productions
Release dates
  • July 1975 (1975-07)
Running time
 230 minutes
Country Greece
Language Greek
German
English

The Travelling Players (Greek: Ο Θίασος, translit. O Thiassos) is a 1975 Greek film directed by Theodoros Angelopoulos that traces the history of mid-20th century Greece from 1939 to 1952.

Many critics have declared The Travelling Players Angelopoulos' masterpiece; 16 critics and five directors voted it one of the greatest films ever made in the British Film Institute's 2012 Sight & Sound poll.[1]

Plot

A group of travelling 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 travelling 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 Asia Minor, 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 Agamemnon and Clytemnestra, fights on the side of the leftists, avenges his father's death by killing his mother and Aegisthos. He is arrested in 1949 for his guerrilla activities and is executed in prison in 1951. Electra, his sister, helps the leftists and aids her brother in avenging the treachery of their mother and Aegisthos. After the death of Orestes she continues the work of the troupe and her relationship with Pylades. Chrysotheme, Electra's younger sister, collaborates with the Germans, prostitutes herself during the occupation, sides with the British during liberation, and later marries an American. Pylades, close friend of Orestes, is a Communist who is exiled by the Metaxas regime, joins the guerrillas and is arrested and exiled again. Finally he is forced to sign a written denunciation of the left after torture by the right wing and he is released from prison in 1950.

Production

The Travelling Players was released to the general public after the Regime of the Colonels had ended in 1974 and Greece returned to a democratic rule. However Theo Angelopoulos had been working on the film throughout 1974 when the dictatorship was still in power, and had to hide his work from the authorities. To continue working he claimed he was producing a version of the Orestes myth set in the Axis occupation of Greece during World War II. Angelopoulos claimed that the colonels' junta gave him the idea for The Travelling Players; Angelopoulos, who was formerly a film critic for a socialist newspaper wanted to analyze two things: the first being the history of Greece from a left-wing perspective, and second why it had been so difficult to establish democracy in Greece. The film was released in 1975.

Style

Like many of Theo Angelopoulos' films, The Travelling Players uses long, static takes combined with complex tracking shots, and beautiful landscape photography to create a surrealistic atmosphere. Only eighty shots are used throughout the entire film. Shots in the film often drift back and forth in time without warning and after a major scene there will be some down time for the viewer to contemplate what has just transpired.

Reaction

Although even some critics are polarized by the film's length and pacing, The Travelling Players has had an overwhelmingly positive reception from most others. In the years since its release, many have declared it one of the greatest films of all time; it ranked #102 in the 2012 Sight & Sound critics' poll,[2] and has won numerous awards. On review aggregator Rotten Tomatoes, the film holds an 86% freshness rating, based on 14 reviews.

The director intended to participate officially with The Travelling Players in the 1975 Cannes festival, but the conservative Greek government prevented this. Despite the acclaim, the film has yet to receive a proper Region 1 DVD release; there is, however, a region-free release.

Awards

The film was selected as the Greek entry for the Best Foreign Language Film at the 48th Academy Awards, but was not accepted as a nominee.[3]

See also

References

  1. ↑ "Travelling Players, The (1975)". British Film Institute. Retrieved June 20, 2015.
  2. ↑ "Travelling Players, The (1975)". British Film Institute. Retrieved June 20, 2015.
  3. ↑ Margaret Herrick Library, Academy of Motion Picture Arts and Sciences
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