''Days of '36'' ( el, Μέρες του '36, italic=yes, translit=Méres tou '36) is a 1972

Greek Greek may refer to: Greece Anything of, from, or related to Greece, a country in Southern Europe: *Greeks, an ethnic group. *Greek language, a branch of the Indo-European language family. **Proto-Greek language, the assumed last common ancestor ...

dramatic

independent Independent or Independents may refer to: Arts, entertainment, and media Artist groups * Independents (artist group), a group of modernist painters based in the New Hope, Pennsylvania, area of the United States during the early 1930s * Independ ...

underground Underground most commonly refers to: * Subterranea (geography), the regions beneath the surface of the Earth Underground may also refer to: Places * The Underground (Boston), a music club in the Allston neighborhood of Boston * The Underground ...

art film An art film (or arthouse film) is typically an independent film, aimed at a niche market rather than a mass market audience. It is "intended to be a serious, artistic work, often experimental and not designed for mass appeal", "made primarily f ...

directed by

Theo Angelopoulos Theodoros "Theo" Angelopoulos (; ; 27 April 1935 – 24 January 2012) was a Greek filmmaker, screenwriter and film producer. He dominated the Greek art film industry from 1975 on, and Angelopoulos was one of the most influential and widely re ...

. Its title is a tribute to

Constantine P. Cavafy Konstantinos Petrou Kavafis ( el, Κωνσταντίνος Πέτρου Καβάφης ; April 29 (April 17, OS), 1863 – April 29, 1933), known, especially in English, as Constantine P. Cavafy and often published as C. P. Cavafy (), was a Gree ...

. Filmed during the

Regime of the Colonels In politics, a regime (also "régime") is the form of government or the set of rules, cultural or social norms, etc. that regulate the operation of a government or institution and its interactions with society. According to Yale professor Juan Jo ...

, the film draws parallels between the regime and the dictatorship of

Ioannis Metaxas Ioannis Metaxas (; el, Ιωάννης Μεταξάς; 12th April 187129th January 1941) was a Greek military officer and politician who served as the Prime Minister of Greece from 1936 until his death in 1941. He governed constitutionally for t ...

, but it does so implicitly, in order to escape censorship. Angelopoulos elsewhere speaks of an "aesthetic of the unspoken." He points out that the most important things always happen out of the field of view, behind closed doors or on the phone. When something is said, it is only whispered.

Synopsis

In May 1936, in a

Greece Greece,, or , romanized: ', officially the Hellenic Republic, is a country in Southeast Europe. It is situated on the southern tip of the Balkans, and is located at the crossroads of Europe, Asia, and Africa. Greece shares land borders ...

riven by political strife, a trade union leader is assassinated. Sofianos, a petty criminal and smuggler as well as a police informant and leftist agitator, is accused of the murder. Kept incommunicado in a room separate from the other detainees, his only two visitors are a member of parliament from the Conservative Party and his driver, who is also his brother. One day, Sofianos takes the member of parliament as a hostage inside his cell to obtain his release before midnight; it is not clear how he has obtained the revolver which he was using. The prison guards are powerless, while the warden is under pressure from his political bosses to find a quick resolution to the standoff. Sofianos's lawyer tries to reason with him, explaining to his client that the weapon in his possession is a trap that has been set up for him, and that by taking the deputy as a hostage he is playing the game of those who accuse him. The lawyer conducts an investigation to exonerate Sofianos but ends up being beaten up in a deserted street. In the meantime, an escape attempt takes place in the prison, but three escapees are caught up in the countryside. Under pressure from representatives of the major powers, the political and prison authorities are trying to put an end to the hostage-taking by various means, including the poisoning of the prisoner. Eventually, at nightfall, a sniper shoots Sofianos in his cell. The next morning, the three escapees are shot and the body of Sofianos is added to the funeral truck.

Technical information

*Title: ''Days of '36'' *Original title: ''Μέρες του '36'' ( tr. ''Méres tou '36'') *Director:

*Screenplay:

Petros Markaris Petros Márkaris ( el, Πέτρος Μάρκαρης; born 1 January 1937 in Istanbul) is a Greek-Armenian writer of detective novels starring the grumpy Athenian police investigator Costas Haritos. Biography The son of an Armenian entrepreneu ...

, Stratis Karras and Thanassis Valtinos *Cinematography:

Giorgos Arvanitis Giorgos (or Yorgos) Arvanitis ( el, Γιώργος Αρβανίτης; born February 22, 1941) is a Greek cinematographer. Life Arvanitis was born in the village of Dilofo, Phthiotis, Greece. Having received an education as an electrician in t ...

*Production Design/Costume Design: Mikes Karapiperis *Music: Giorgos Papastephanou *Editing: Vassilis Syropoulos *Production Manager: Giorgos Samiotis *Country:

*Format: Color – Mono – 35 mm *Genre: Drama *Duration: 105 Minutes *Release date: 20 September 1972 (

Thessaloniki Festival of Greek Cinema The Thessaloniki Film Festival started in 1960 and at the beginning comprised exclusively Greek films. The first years (1960-1965) the festival was called "Week of Greek Cinema". From 1965 to 1991 the festival was called Festival of Greek Cinema an ...

)

Cast

*Kostas Pavlou: Sofianos *Thanos Grammenos: Sofianos' Brother/Kriezis's Driver *Giorgos Kyritsis: Kontaxis *Petros Zarkadis: Sofianos' Accomplice * Christoforos Neezer: Prison Director * Toula Stathopoulou: Prostitute *Christos Kalavrouzos: Second Trade Unionist *Vasilis Tsaglos: Prison Guard *Giannis Kandilas: Minister Kriezis/Hostage *Petros Hoidas: Prosecutor *Takis Doukatos: Police Chief *

: Murdered Trade Unionist * Kostas Sfikas: Prosecutor's Assistant *Christoforos Himaras: Minister * Vangelis Kazan *Alekos Boubis * Giorgos Tzifos *Kaiti Ibrohori *

Yannis Smaragdis Yannis Smaragdis ( el, Γιάννης Σμαραγδής) is a Greek film director. Biography He was born in Crete in 1946 and studied film in Greece and Paris, France. He appeared in 1972 with his short film ''Two Three Things...'' which receive ...

* Thanassis Valtinos *Lambros Papadimitrakis *Titika Vlahopoulou *Yanka Avayianou *Kiriakos Katrivanos *Panos Kokkinopoulos *Kostas Mandilas

Awards

It was awarded Best Director and Best Picture at the

in 1972. At the

Berlin International Film Festival The Berlin International Film Festival (german: Internationale Filmfestspiele Berlin), usually called the Berlinale (), is a major international film festival held annually in Berlin, Germany. Founded in 1951 and originally run in June, the fest ...

1973 Events January * January 1 - The United Kingdom, the Republic of Ireland and Denmark 1973 enlargement of the European Communities, enter the European Economic Community, which later becomes the European Union. * January 15 – Vietnam War: ...

, it received a prize from the International Federation of Film Critics.

Bibliography

*Michel Demopoulos, directeur de publication, ''Le Cinéma grec'' 'Greek Cinema'' Paris, Centre Georges Pompidou, collection "cinéma/pluriel," 1995, 263 pages, . *Vrasidas Karalis, ''A History of Greek Cinema'', New York City and London,

Continuum International Publishing Group Continuum International Publishing Group was an academic publisher of books with editorial offices in London and New York City. It was purchased by Nova Capital Management in 2005. In July 2011, it was taken over by Bloomsbury Publishing. , all ...

, 2012, 344 pages, . *Sylvie Rollet, directeur de publication (préface:

), ''Théorème 9: Théo Angelopoulos au fil du temps'' 'Theo Angelopoulos over the Course of Time'' Paris,

Presses Sorbonne Nouvelle The New Sorbonne University (french: Université de la Sorbonne Nouvelle, also known as Paris III) is a public university in Paris, France. It is one of the inheritors of the historic University of Paris, which was completely overhauled and rest ...

, 2007, 189 pages, . *Stéphane Sawas, "Grèce (1967–1974) – Les écrans grecs sous la dictature des colonels: la grande rupture,» reece (1967–1974) – Greek Screens Under the Dictatorship of the Colonels: The Great Breakdans Raphaël Muller et Thomas Wieder, directeurs de publication, ''Cinéma et régimes autoritaires au xxe siècle: Écrans sous influence'' 'Cinema and Authoritarian Regimes in the Twentieth Century: Screens Under Influence'' Paris, Éditions

École Normale Supérieure École may refer to: * an elementary school in the French educational stages normally followed by secondary education establishments (collège and lycée) * École (river), a tributary of the Seine flowing in région Île-de-France * École, S ...

rue d'Ulm et Presses Universitaires de France, collection "Les rencontres de Normale Sup'," 2008, 285 pages, . *Stéphane Sawas, "Entre amnésie collective et mémoire retrouvée: La guerre civile grecque au cinéma," etween Collective Amnesia and Rediscovered Memory: The Greek Civil War in Cinemadans Carola Hähnel-Mesnard, Marie Liénard-Yeterian, et Cristina Marinas, directeurs de publication, ''Culture et mémoire: Représentations contemporaines de la mémoire dans les espaces mémoriels, les arts du visuel, la littérature et le théâtre'' 'Culture and Memory: Contemporary Representations of Memory in Memorial Spaces, Visual Arts, Literature and Theater'' Paris, Éditions de l'

École Polytechnique École may refer to: * an elementary school in the French educational stages normally followed by secondary education establishments (collège and lycée) * École (river), a tributary of the Seine flowing in région Île-de-France * École, Savoi ...

et Éditions Ellipses, 2008, 534 pages, .

External links

* * *
''Days of '36''
at the

TCM Movie Database Turner Classic Movies (TCM) is an American movie-oriented pay-TV network owned by Warner Bros. Discovery. Launched in 1994, Turner Classic Movies is headquartered at Turner's Techwood broadcasting campus in the Midtown business district of At ...

{{Theo Angelopoulos 1970s historical drama films 1972 independent films 1972 films Films about death Films about dictators Films about police officers Films about prostitution in Greece Films directed by Theodoros Angelopoulos Films set in 1936 Films set in Greece Films set in prison Films shot in Greece Films shot in Crete Films shot in Athens Greek drama films 1970s Greek-language films Murder in films Women and death 4th of August Regime 1972 drama films