Alexander the Great (O Megalexandros) Greece, 1980

Theo Angelopoulos insisted that Alexander the Great was his “most simple film” to date for its linear structure, beginning on New Year’s Eve 1900 and proceeding from there. The film’s straightforward chronology, however, belies the complex interplay of Greek Orthodox and Byzantine liturgy, music, and ritual that Angelopoulos weaves into this newly urgent politically-charged fable of a would-be liberator who devolves into despotism. A bandit leader, Megalexandros, sparks an international incident when he kidnaps a group of English tourists but when he and his men return to their village to hold up, they find the revolution may have already passed them by.

35mm, color, in Greek and English with English subtitles, 199 min. Director: Theo Angelopoulos. Screenwriters: Theo Angelopoulos, Petros Markaris. With: Omero Antonutti, Eva Kotamanidou, Mihalis Giannatos.

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This film is presented by The UCLA Film & Television Archive and the UCLA Stavros Niarchos Foundation Center for the Study of Hellenic Culture with support from the UCLA Center for European and Russian Studies and with the community partnership of the LAGFF. The retrospective is held under the auspices of the Consulate General of Greece in Los Angeles.