Days of ’36 (Meres tou ’36) Greece, 1972

A political assassination kicks off Theo Angelopoulos’ portrait of one Greek dictatorship made under the shadow of another. This opening act of violence triggers a series of more ambiguous but equally ominous machinations—a prison escape, a hostage crisis, foreign powers conspiring over cocktails—with Angelopoulos emphasizing the atmosphere and anxiety of political repression over specific historical events. Wide shots and 360-degree camera pans suggest a panoramic vision but actually underscore what’s hidden from view. There is very little dialogue and even less explication but the cumulative effect is deeply unnerving.

35mm, color, in Greek and English with English subtitles, 105 min. Director: Theo Angelopoulos. Screenwriters: Theo Angelopoulos, Petros Markaris, Stratis Karras, Thanassis Valtinos. With: Vangelis Kazan, Kostas Pavlou, Thanos Grammenos.

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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.