George Tzavellas, also rendered Giorgos Tzavellas, Yiorgos Tzavellas, or Yorgos Javellas ( el, Γιώργος Τζαβέλλας, 1916,
Athens
Athens ( ; el, Αθήνα, Athína ; grc, Ἀθῆναι, Athênai (pl.) ) is both the capital and largest city of Greece. With a population close to four million, it is also the seventh largest city in the European Union. Athens dominates ...
– October 18, 1976), was a
Greek
Greek may refer to:
Greece
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 ...
film director, screenwriter, and playwright. His filmmaking was particularly influential, with critic
Georges Sadoul
Georges Sadoul (4 February 1904 – 13 October 1967) was a French film critic, journalist and cinema writer. He is known for writing encyclopedias of film and filmmakers, many of which have been translated into English.
Biography
Sadoul was ...
considering him "one of the three major postwar Greek directors" (along with
Michael Cacoyannis
Michael Cacoyannis ( el, Μιχάλης Κακογιάννης, ''Michalis Kakogiannis''; 11 June 1922 – 25 July 2011), sometimes credited as Michael Yannis, was a Greek Cypriot theatre and film director, writer, producer, and actor.
...
and
Nikos Koundouros
Nikos Koundouros ( el, Νίκος Κούνδουρος; 15 December 1926 – 22 February 2017) was a Greek film director.
Biography
Koundouros was born in Agios Nikolaos, Crete, in 1926. He studied painting and sculpture at the Athens School of F ...
).
Tzavellas wrote at least 26 plays, in addition to writing the scripts for all of his films.
Among his notable films are ''
Marinos Kontaras'' (1948), the drama ''
O methystakas'' (1950), and ''
Antigone
In Greek mythology, Antigone ( ; Ancient Greek: Ἀντιγόνη) is the daughter of Oedipus and either his mother Jocasta or, in another variation of the myth, Euryganeia. She is a sister of Polynices, Eteocles, and Ismene.Roman, L., & R ...
'' (1961), a cinematic adaptation of the Sophocles tragedy.
His adaptation of ''Antigone'' reimagined it in the language of realist cinema, omitting stylized elements of Greek stageplay such as the
chorus, and attempting to convey the same information via setting and dialogue.
In 1964 he was a member of the jury at the
14th Berlin International Film Festival.
His masterpiece, however, is the 1955 film ''
The Counterfeit Coin'' (''I kálpiki líra''), a film in four parts, linking the stories of several people through their transactions of a single counterfeit
gold coin
A gold coin is a coin that is made mostly or entirely of gold. Most gold coins minted since 1800 are 90–92% gold (22karat), while most of today's gold bullion coins are pure gold, such as the Britannia, Canadian Maple Leaf, and American Buf ...
.
Filmography
*''
Applause
Applause (Latin ''applaudere,'' to strike upon, clap) is primarily a form of ovation or praise expressed by the act of clapping, or striking the palms of the hands together, in order to create noise. Audiences usually applaud after a performanc ...
'' (1944)
*''
Forgotten Faces'' (1946)
*''
Marinos Kontaras'' (1948)
*''
The Drunkard'' (1950)
*''
The Grouch'' (1952)
*''
Lily of the Harbor'' (1952)
*''
The Taxi Driver
''The Taxi Driver'' (Greek: ''To soferaki'') is a 1953 Greek comedy film directed by Yorgos Tzavellas and starring Mimis Fotopoulos, Smaroula Giouli, and Nikos Rizos.Karalis p.62
Cast
* Mimis Fotopoulos as Vangos
* Smaroula Giouli as Lela
...
'' (1953)
*''
The Counterfeit Coin'' (1955)
*''
The Lovers Arrive'' (1956)
*''
We Have Only One Life'' (1958)
*''
Antigone
In Greek mythology, Antigone ( ; Ancient Greek: Ἀντιγόνη) is the daughter of Oedipus and either his mother Jocasta or, in another variation of the myth, Euryganeia. She is a sister of Polynices, Eteocles, and Ismene.Roman, L., & R ...
'' (1961)
*''
And the Wife Shall Revere Her Husband
''And the Wife Shall Revere Her Husband'' ( el, Η δε γυνή να φοβήται τον άνδρα) is a 1965 Greek comedy film. The film won the best director award in 1st Chicago International Film Festival.
Plot
Antonis and Eleni are an u ...
'' (1965)
References
External links
*
1916 births
1976 deaths
Greek film directors
Greek male dramatists and playwrights
20th-century Greek dramatists and playwrights
Film people from Athens
{{Greece-film-director-stub