Reshaping Contemporary Greek Cinema Through a Re- evaluation of the Historical and Political Perspective of Theo Angelopoulos's Work

Abstract

Theo Angelopoulos’s unique gaze in cinema established him as one of the most significant figures in European cinema of the last fifty years. His dialectical approach to form and style and his connection to Greek history helped him to reawaken collective memories and remind people of certain historical events. After his tragic death in 2012, the Greek film industry made a huge shift to a more post-modern and non-political point of view. Something that is quite surprising since Greece has been in the midst of major political conflicts since the beginning of the financial crisis in 2008. Many scholars have investigated various points in Theo Angelopoulos’s work. This paper focuses on a detailed search of the historical and political perspective of Angelopoulos’s films by creating a cross-disciplinary research in theory and practice. This research provides new insights regarding the way that Angelopoulos used Brechtian techniques in his first trilogy, and also the significance of the use of the Greek coffee shop (kafeneion) as an ideal location in his films. The theoretical findings are used as a key tool in the creation of three research films that will illustrate the ways we can use the techniques of Theo Angelopoulos’s work to create a new kind of contemporary political cinema in Greece, and ultimately lead to the creation of the Manifesto for a new avant-garde contemporary Greek cinema.