Theo Angelopoulos: Filmmaker and Philosopher

The cinema of Theo Angelopoulos is celebrated for challenging the status quo, with a coherent and nuanced philosophy underpinning his work. From political films to essayistic works, he explores identity, love, loss, memory, and mortality, engaging with the thinking of Plato, Mark, Heidegger, Arendt, and Luckacs. His mastery of visual language and 'ocular poetics' communicates profundity through the everyday, embracing contradiction and celebrating unsettling questions.

Format: Paperback / softback
Length: 208 pages
Publication date: 26 January 2023
Publisher: Bloomsbury Publishing PLC

Theo Angelopoulos is celebrated for challenging the status quo in his cinema. His work spans from political films of the 1970s to more existential pieces in his later career. Vrasidis Karalis argues for a coherent and nuanced philosophy underpinning Angelopoulos' work.

Angelopoulos' political force, evident in films like "The Travelling Players" (1975), gave way to more essayistic works exploring identity, love, loss, memory, and mortality. This evolution of sensibilities is charted alongside key cultural moments that informed his shifting thinking. From "Voyage to Cythera" (1984) until his last film, "The Dust of Time" (2009), Angelopoulos' problematic heroes sought meaning and purpose, engaging with the thinkers of Plato, Mark, Heidegger, Arendt, and Luckacs, both implicitly and explicitly.

Angelopoulos also delves into the rich visual language and "ocular poetics" of his oeuvre, showcasing his mastery of communicating profoundity through the everyday. Karalis advocates for a reading of his work that embraces contradiction and celebrates the unsettling questions at the heart of his work.

Weight: 272g
Dimension: 214 x 138 x 17 (mm)
ISBN-13: 9781350245365