"The weeping meadow" of Theodoros Angelopoulos has more or less the same strength and weaknesses as "The travelling players" (1975), his other film that I have seen.
This strength and weaknesses are:
long running time; long average shot length; presupposes knowledge about Greek history; presupposes knowledge about Greek mythology.
The first two bullets are a strength for some and a weakness for others. For the average movie lover (including me) the last two bullets probably are a weakness.
Due to my lack of knowledge I found the storyline hard to follow, and this is a pitty because this way the many beautiful images of the film become somewhat suspended in thin air.
The most beautiful images are in my opinion related to the funeral procession across the river. This scene is accompanied by funeral music mixed with the sound of lapping of the river water. Gradually the sound of the water takes over.
This is no accident because I suspect that this river has a symbolic meaning in this film, representing the flow of time. In this respect the film uses the same symbolism as for example "The night of the hunter" (1955, Charles Laughton).
By the way some beautiful images are used a little too often in the movie, thereby becoming over the top and predictable. I am referring to the images of a local bleachfield stuffed with snow-white sheets. It recurs a bit too often (over the top) and when a wounded man is stumbling over the bleachfield, bespattering the snow-white sheets with his blood red blood it seems an act of symbolism which is a bit too obvious.
This strength and weaknesses are:
long running time; long average shot length; presupposes knowledge about Greek history; presupposes knowledge about Greek mythology.
The first two bullets are a strength for some and a weakness for others. For the average movie lover (including me) the last two bullets probably are a weakness.
Due to my lack of knowledge I found the storyline hard to follow, and this is a pitty because this way the many beautiful images of the film become somewhat suspended in thin air.
The most beautiful images are in my opinion related to the funeral procession across the river. This scene is accompanied by funeral music mixed with the sound of lapping of the river water. Gradually the sound of the water takes over.
This is no accident because I suspect that this river has a symbolic meaning in this film, representing the flow of time. In this respect the film uses the same symbolism as for example "The night of the hunter" (1955, Charles Laughton).
By the way some beautiful images are used a little too often in the movie, thereby becoming over the top and predictable. I am referring to the images of a local bleachfield stuffed with snow-white sheets. It recurs a bit too often (over the top) and when a wounded man is stumbling over the bleachfield, bespattering the snow-white sheets with his blood red blood it seems an act of symbolism which is a bit too obvious.