An epic drama

The Weeping Meadow is set against the backdrop of World War II and the Greek civil war. It is an example of visually evocative filmmaking, observes Ervell E. Menezes

Theo Angelopoulos’ The Weeping Meadow is set in most part in a tiny Greek village of Thessaloniki and is centred on Elini (Alexandra Aidini), a Greek immigrant from Russia who elopes with an unnamed man (Nikos Poursnidis), son of her much older fiance, Spyros (Vasili Kalovos). He is an accordion player and the story is set against the backdrop of World War II and the Greek civil war.

It is also about a group of musicians and their attempts to find work. That the unnamed man has to eventually leave for America to find work, separates them and their two boys in this epic drama but it is an example of visually evocative filmmaking.

Angelopoulos is known for his picture-postcard images, the most impressive one being the group returning to the village with a body in boats, their oars at work and their white flag sails prominent.

In fact he plays with white, often the colour of sheets drying in the wind and the visuals of a steam engine, chugging along in all its glory. At times he uses only its sound. It is supported by good lines like for starters "a slight mist suddenly wafts over the muddy earth." One is able to smell the ambience, the scruffy Greek characters and their ouzo-downing embellished by the tuneful music at the musicians’ hangout.

The story moves on, the two boys grow up and become soldiers. One is resentful of their parentage, they have no name, and he doesn’t hesitate to make it clear to his dad. But after the accordion player leaves for the United States, Angelopoulos dwells far too long on Elini. It is form getting the better of content and a case of the filmmaker getting lost in his emotions and his art.

Angelopoulos has been making films since the early 1970s and this one is the first since his Palm d’Or-winning Eternity and a Day in 1998 but it seems like he has already peaked off. Though politics is cleverly put in the background, he tends to focus too much on the heroine Elini and her last years are unduly prolonged, detracting from what could have been a compact drama. Intended to be the first of a trilogy, one hopes he is less indulgent in the next two films. But The Weeping Meadow is an example of visually evocative filmmaking and is memorable for some of its stunning shots.

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