Meres tou '36 (Days of 36)

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  October 4, 2009

  jimbotender

  Part I of A Trilogy of History by Theo Angelopoulos:
  
  The particles of 20th century Greece being here,in an attempt to observe,spy and subsequently organize the scattered hopes of the ancient legends.Suffice to say Angelopoulos re-defines history as we know it,it's hilarious to f...( read more)ind out underground schemes and corrupt authorities damaged a (non-existent) state of union!!!
  That is,regardless of the politicians,ignorant of the prosperity of the state nor of the rebellious inmates,struggling for their voice to be heard against a totalitarian nation (Metaxas the "prime minister" was ready to rule with the 4th of August Regime),not even the main protagonist of the drama exaggerates.

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  November 2, 2009

  ElCochran90

  "He said he wants music."
  
  Meres tou '36 (1972)
  
  Director: Theodoros Angelopoulos
  Country: Greece
  Genre: Drama / Crime
  Length: 105 minutes
  
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  Theodoros Angelopoulos acquired the context that would determine his filmic style in a rather quick period of time. Meres tou '36 is the first part of A Trilogy of History, which also includes the films O Thiasos (1975) and Oi Kynigoi (1977). Achieving a high level of political and technical maturity with Meres tou '36, Angelopoulos makes a direct social commentary against an utterly unstable political control that would be meant to unleash the authoritarian 4th of August Regime. However, the delicacy of Angelopoulos and the very present theatrical feeling of the film compensate the supposedly controversial audacity he decided to impose through each and every one of the frames that form a strong cinematic argument.
  
  The film was shot during the second dictatorship that Greece went through the 20th Century, and it is set during the first dictatorship (1936-1941), a regime originated by General Ioannis Metaxas. When a Greek-Orthodox and former drug trafficker and police informer named Sofianos is arrested because of the assassination of a trade unionist, a conservative politician named Kriezis visits him in prison, allowing Sofianos to somehow manage to take him hostage, asking the authorities to be released. This extreme event puts the Greek government in a very compromising situation. Theodoros Angelopoulos won the FIPRESCI Prize at the Berlin International Film Festival of 1973 under the "Forum of New Cinema" category. The film also won two Greek Competition Awards for Best Cinematography and Best Director at the Thessaloniki Film Festival of 1972, which is a shocking fact itself.
  
  To demand cultural knowledge about Greece to the audience may be interpreted with several significations. It may mean that the political ideas portrayed with a slightly blasphemous and comical touch need no introduction at all. A regime with the ideas of Hellenic nationalism and the influences of German Nazism and Italian Fascism is the political background that a crime plot is masquerading. The true governmental hipocrisy is derived from the utter incapacity of the government to build a relevant sympathy with both the Democratic and the Conservative Parties, supporting forces that hold contrary requests regarding the release of Sofianos. This was perhaps the main aspect that demanded a minimalist perspective when the prison and closed spaces are shown, and a documentary perspective exhalted with a developing cinematography by Angelopoulos that caused Meres tou '36 to easily gain an ambitious style.
  
  The pace requires a lot of patience, but a cathartic sensation regarding the slowness found in the decisions and falsely democratic procedures taken by a regime that pretend to help the members of a decaing society is unusually felt. Perhaps it was intended; it clearly was understood specifically by the Greek audience whereas a foreign audience is asked to perform a quick research beforehand. Naturally, the screenplay did not need to possess several layers or lyrical complexity; the images are allowed to offer an expressionistic context and sudden moments of awkwardness and intentional humor enlighten the genius of the auteur behind the camera.
  
  The title of the film has a somewhat vague connotation, but it could be attibuted to the historical nostalgia derived from the consequences that an undesirable and menacing dictatorship brought with it. Yes, there are memorable scenes, the most famous being the one with the music in the prison being played under Sofianos' request and a resulting non-violent riot. The ending, which is provided with spoilers in the most accessible plot descriptions found in the Internet, has a certain degree of predictability, but the style does not. A strong opposition and contrast of visual beauty is witnessed in the scandal with which the film opens and the catastrophe with which it closes, suggesting to liberal and conservative audiences that ideals are relative and that they have no grandiose importance; it is the control and the personal taste that a state of union may build towards a totalitarian structure with a hidden anarchic nature the actor behind the curtains. The result, of course, is a compelling and early masterpiece by the most renowned Greek director, and a gem that invites to reflection and immediate action, even it if only involves an attitute modification.
  
  88/100

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