Eternity and a Day (1998)
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95% of critics liked it
(21 reviews) -
90% of users liked it
(3,647 ratings)
Theo Angelopoulos (Reconstruction) directed this 1998 Cannes Film Festival Palme d'Or winner about a famed author nearing the end of his life. Alexander (Bruno Ganz) lives in his old seaside family home near Thessaloniki, but his daughter and son-in-law plan to sell the house, slightly damaged… More Theo Angelopoulos (Reconstruction) directed this 1998 Cannes Film Festival Palme d'Or winner about a famed author nearing the end of his life. Alexander (Bruno Ganz) lives in his old seaside family home near Thessaloniki, but his daughter and son-in-law plan to sell the house, slightly damaged by an earthquake. Seriously ill, Alexander thinks if he checks himself into the hospital, he'll never check out. Awash in nostalgia, he recalls his late wife, Anna (Isabelle Renauld), seen in flashback, and he lets his daughter read a letter her mother had written to him right after her birth. Alexander's current project involves completing the last unfinished work of a 19th-century poet, but he puts that aside in order to spend time finding a home for his dog. Since his son-in-law won't take the dog, Alexander gives it to his servant. After rescuing an Albanian boy (Achileas Skevis) from a gang that sells children to wealthy Greeks who can't adopt legally, Alexander intends to return the youth to his grandmother in Albania. However, the child lied, and Alexander is unaware the boy has no grandmother. The old man and the boy set forth on a journey, and the other bus passengers include several musicians and the 19th-century poet (Fabrizio Bentivoglio). Bruno Ganz was dubbed into Greek for this Greek-French-Italian co-production. ~ Bhob Stewart, Rovi
- Directed By
- Theodoros Angelopoulos
- Written By
- Theodoros Angelopoulos, Tonino Guerra, Petros Markaris
- Genres
- Art House & International, Drama
Unrated,
- In Theaters
- May 28, 1999 Limited
- Studio
- Westdeutscher Rundfunk
Critic Reviews
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Jonathan Rosenbaum, Chicago Reader
I was moved and captivated throughout its 132 minutes.
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Geoff Andrew, Time Out
Its long, fluid takes escort us through space and time, to universal themes and broader topicalities, effortlessly fending off charges of hermetic aestheticism.
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Stanley Kauffmann, The New Republic
What had been a realistic work, lyric but realistic, slides into ostentatious symbolism.
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Janet Maslin, New York Times
Angelopoulos' meditation on the meaning of one man's life is genuinely hypnotic in its way of transcending ordinary narrative.
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Kevin Thomas, Los Angeles Times
Angelopoulos has created another masterpiece, one that recalls such classics as Bergman's Wild Strawberries and Kurosawa's Ikiru.
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Cast
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Bruno Ganz
as Alexander
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Isabelle Renauld
as Anna
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Achileas Skevis
as The Child
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Despina Bebedeli
as Mother
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Iris Chatziantoniou
as Daughter
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Eleni Gerasimidou
as Urania
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Fabrizio Bentivoglio
as The Poet
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Vassilis Seimenis
as Son-In-Law
- Alexandra Ladikou
- Despina Bebedelli
- Helene Gerasimidou
- Nikos Kouros
