''Trilogy: The Weeping Meadow'' (

Greek Greek may refer to: 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 of all kno ...

: ''Τριλογία: Το λιβάδι που δακρύζει'') is a 2004 Greek

historical drama A historical drama (also period drama, period piece or just period) is a dramatic work set in the past, usually used in the context of film and television, which presents history, historical events and characters with varying degrees of fiction s ...

film written and 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 respect ...

. It stars Alexandra Aidini, Thalia Argyriou, Giorgos Armenis, Vasilis Kolovos and Nikos Poursanidis, and was released during the 2004

Berlin International Film Festival The Berlin International Film Festival (), usually called the Berlinale (), is an annual film festival held in Berlin, Germany. Founded in 1951 and originally run in June, the festival has been held every February since 1978 and is one of Europ ...

on 11 February 2004. It is the first film of a projected

trilogy A trilogy is a set of three distinct works that are connected and can be seen either as a single work or as three individual works. They are commonly found in literature, film, and video games. Three-part works that are considered components of ...

about recent events in

Greek history The history of Greece encompasses the history of the territory of the modern nation-state of Greece as well as that of the Greek people and the areas they inhabited and ruled historically. The scope of Greek habitation and rule has varied throu ...

. Followed in 2008 with ''

The Dust of Time ''The Dust of Time'' () is a 2008 Greek drama film written and directed by Theodoros Angelopoulos, and starring Willem Dafoe, Irène Jacob, Bruno Ganz, Michel Piccoli and Christiane Paul. The film is the second of an unfinished trilogy started wi ...

'', the trilogy was ultimately left incomplete after Angelopoulos' unexpected death in January 2012.

Plot

The film revives themes of Angelopoulos' 1975 film ''

The Travelling Players ''The Travelling Players'' (, translit. ''O Thiasos'', "The Troupe") is a 1975 Greek historical drama film written and directed by Theodoros Angelopoulos that traces the history of mid-20th-century Greece from 1939 to 1952. Many critics ha ...

'', and its events span from 1919 to the aftermath of

World War II World War II or the Second World War (1 September 1939 – 2 September 1945) was a World war, global conflict between two coalitions: the Allies of World War II, Allies and the Axis powers. World War II by country, Nearly all of the wo ...

. It tells the story of Greek history through the sufferings of one family. A band of

refugee A refugee, according to the United Nations High Commissioner for Refugees (UNHCR), is a person "forced to flee their own country and seek safety in another country. They are unable to return to their own country because of feared persecution as ...

s that returns to Greece after the

Russian Revolution The Russian Revolution was a period of Political revolution (Trotskyism), political and social revolution, social change in Russian Empire, Russia, starting in 1917. This period saw Russia Dissolution of the Russian Empire, abolish its mona ...

adopts an

orphan An orphan is a child whose parents have died, are unknown, or have permanently abandoned them. It can also refer to a child who has lost only one parent, as the Hebrew language, Hebrew translation, for example, is "fatherless". In some languages ...

ed girl, Eleni (Alexandra Aidini). Eleni becomes the focus of the story. The film follows her through

adolescence Adolescence () is a transitional stage of human Developmental biology, physical and psychological Human development (biology), development that generally occurs during the period from puberty to adulthood (typically corresponding to the age o ...

and the marriage to her musician adopted-brother Alexis (Nikos Poursanidis). Eleni becomes pregnant by Alexis, and bears twin boys, who are sent away at birth. Many years later she is forced to marry her

widow A widow (female) or widower (male) is a person whose spouse has Death, died and has usually not remarried. The male form, "widower", is first attested in the 14th century, by the 19th century supplanting "widow" with reference to men. The adjecti ...

ed adopted father. On her wedding day, Eleni escapes with Alexis to

Thessaloniki Thessaloniki (; ), also known as Thessalonica (), Saloniki, Salonika, or Salonica (), is the second-largest city in Greece (with slightly over one million inhabitants in its Thessaloniki metropolitan area, metropolitan area) and the capital cit ...

, where they reunite with their sons. Their lives are then ripped apart by World War II and the ensuing

Greek Civil War The Greek Civil War () took place from 1946 to 1949. The conflict, which erupted shortly after the end of World War II, consisted of a Communism, Communist-led uprising against the established government of the Kingdom of Greece. The rebels decl ...

Cast

* Alexandra Aidini as Eleni * Thalia Argyriou as Danae * Giorgos Armenis as Nikos the Fiddler *

Vasilis Kolovos Vasilis Kolovos (; born 10 December 1945) is a Greek actor. He appeared in more than forty films since 1971. Filmography References External links * 1945 births Living people Greek male film actors People from Domokos {{Gre ...

as Spyros * Nikos Poursanidis as Alexis *

Eva Kotamanidou Eva Kotamanidou (Greek: Εύα Κοταμανίδου) was a Greek actress. Born on 16 March 1936 in Nea Filadelfeia, Athens, she became most known for '' O Thiassos'' (1975), '' Topio stin omichli'' (1988) and ''Alexander the Great'' (1980). She ...

as Cassandra * Toula Stathopoulou as Woman in Coffee House

Reception

Critical reception

''Trilogy: The Weeping Meadow'' received generally favorable reviews from critics. At

Metacritic Metacritic is an American website that aggregates reviews of films, television shows, music albums, video games, and formerly books. For each product, the scores from each review are averaged (a weighted average). Metacritic was created ...

it holds a 73/100 score based on 12 reviews. At

Rotten Tomatoes Rotten Tomatoes is an American review aggregator, review-aggregation website for film and television. The company was launched in August 1998 by three undergraduate students at the University of California, Berkeley: Senh Duong, Patrick Y. Lee ...

it has a 67% score based on 27 reviews, with an average rating of 6.3/10.

Peter Bradshaw Peter Nicholas Bradshaw (born 19 June 1962) is a British writer and film critic. He has been chief film critic at ''The Guardian'' since 1999, and is a contributing editor at ''Esquire'' magazine. Early life and education Bradshaw was educat ...

of ''

The Guardian ''The Guardian'' is a British daily newspaper. It was founded in Manchester in 1821 as ''The Manchester Guardian'' and changed its name in 1959, followed by a move to London. Along with its sister paper, ''The Guardian Weekly'', ''The Guardi ...

'' gave the film two out of five stars, and commented: "The movie is fiercely austere; no human emotion leaks out and the characters are as blank as chess-pieces." Dana Stevens of ''

The New York Times ''The New York Times'' (''NYT'') is an American daily newspaper based in New York City. ''The New York Times'' covers domestic, national, and international news, and publishes opinion pieces, investigative reports, and reviews. As one of ...

'': "''The Weeping Meadow'' is a beautiful and devastating meditation on war, history and loss."

Derek Elley Derek Elley (born ) is an American film and music critic and author, best known as the resident film critic for '' Variety'' until his departure in March 2010. With over 1200 reviews to his credit as of December 2014 on ''Rotten Tomatoes'', he spe ...

of ''Variety'': "The movie plays like a career summation in which the 68-year-old writer-director has simply run out new ideas."

Awards and nominations

;Awards *

FIPRESCI Award The International Federation of Film Critics (FIPRESCI, short for ''Fédération Internationale de la Presse Cinématographique'') is an association of national organizations of professional film critics and film journalists from around the worl ...

at the

European Film Awards The European Film Awards (or European Film Academy Awards) have been presented annually since 1988 by the European Film Academy to recognize excellence in European cinematic achievements. The awards are given in 19 categories, of which the mos ...

2004 2004 was designated as an International Year of Rice by the United Nations, and the International Year to Commemorate the Struggle Against Slavery and Its Abolition (by UNESCO). Events January * January 3 – Flash Airlines Flight 60 ...

* "Spiritual Competition" Jury Award at the

Fajr International Film Festival Iran's annual Fajr International Film Festival (), or Fajr Film Festival (little: FIFF; ), has been held every February in Tehran since 1983. The festival is supervised by the Ministry of Culture and Islamic Guidance. It takes place on the anni ...

2005 ;Nominations *

Golden Bear The Golden Bear () is the highest prize awarded for the best film at the Berlin International Film Festival and is, along with the Palme d'Or and the Golden Lion, the most important international film festival award. The bear is the heraldic an ...

at the

2004 * European Film Awards 2004 ** "People's Choice Award" ** "Best Director" (Theodoros Angelopoulos) ** "Best Cinematographer" (Andreas Sinanos) ** "Best Composer" (Eleni Karaindrou)

References

External links

* * * * {{DEFAULTSORT:Trilogy: The Weeping Meadow 2004 films 2004 drama films Greek drama films 2000s Greek films 2000s Greek-language films Films set in the 1920s Films directed by Theodoros Angelopoulos Films scored by Eleni Karaindrou Films set in Thessaloniki Hellenistic Greece Greek Civil War films