''Ulysses' Gaze'' (, translit. ''To Vlemma tou Odyssea'') is a 1995 Greek film directed by

Theo Angelopoulos Theodoros "Theo" Angelopoulos (; ; 27 April 1935 – 24 January 2012) was a Greek filmmaker, screenwriter and film producer. He dominated the Greek art film industry from 1975 on, and Angelopoulos was one of the most influential and widely re ...

and starring

Harvey Keitel Harvey Keitel ( ; born May 13, 1939) is an American actor. He is known for his portrayal of morally ambiguous and "tough guy" characters. He first rose to prominence during the New Hollywood movement, and has held a long-running association with ...

Maia Morgenstern Maia Emilia Ninel Morgenstern (; born 1 May 1962) is a Romanian film and stage actress, Gabriela DumbaPur și SIMPLU, Maia Morgenstern, ("Pure and simple, Maia Morgenstern", but with a pun, because Simplu is a Romanian musical group with whom ...

, and

Erland Josephson Erland Josephson (; 15 June 1923 – 25 February 2012) was a Swedish actor and author. He was best known by international audiences for his work in films directed by Ingmar Bergman, Andrei Tarkovsky and Theodoros Angelopoulos. Life and career J ...

. The film was selected as the Greek entry for the

Best Foreign Language Film This is a list of categories of awards commonly awarded through organizations that bestow film awards, including those presented by various film, festivals, and people's awards. Best Actor/Best Actress *See Best Actor#Film awards, Best Actress#F ...

at the

68th Academy Awards The 68th Academy Awards ceremony, organized by the Academy of Motion Picture Arts and Sciences (AMPAS), honored the best films of 1995 in the United States and took place on March 25, 1996, at the Dorothy Chandler Pavilion in Los Angeles begi ...

but it was not nominated.

Plot

Successful Greek filmmaker, A (Harvey Keitel), returns to Greece. He has come to participate in a screening of one of his earlier films and to begin a personal journey across the Balkans. After the screening is disrupted by local ideological conflict, A takes a taxi from Greece to

Albania Albania ( ; sq, Shqipëri or ), or , also or . officially the Republic of Albania ( sq, Republika e Shqipërisë), is a country in Southeastern Europe. It is located on the Adriatic and Ionian Seas within the Mediterranean Sea and shares ...

. Ostensibly A is searching for 3 undeveloped reels of film shot by the

Manaki brothers The Manaki brothers ( rup, Frats Manachia), Yanaki and Milton ( and ), were Greek photography and cinema pioneers of the Balkan Peninsula and the Ottoman Empire. They were the first to bring a film camera and create a motion picture in the city ...

. The mysterious reels could predate the brother's first film,

The Weavers The Weavers were an American folk music quartet based in the Greenwich Village area of New York City originally consisting of Lee Hays, Pete Seeger, Ronnie Gilbert, and Fred Hellerman. Founded in 1948, the group sang traditional folk songs fro ...

, which is believed to be the first film shot in the Balkans. A's journey fuses his own memories, the experiences of the Manaki brothers, and contemporary images of the Balkans. A drifts from Albania to

North Macedonia North Macedonia, ; sq, Maqedonia e Veriut, (Macedonia before February 2019), officially the Republic of North Macedonia,, is a country in Southeast Europe. It gained independence in 1991 as one of the successor states of Socialist Feder ...

Bulgaria Bulgaria (; bg, България, Bǎlgariya), officially the Republic of Bulgaria,, ) is a country in Southeast Europe. It is situated on the eastern flank of the Balkans, and is bordered by Romania to the north, Serbia and North Macedon ...

, Romania and

Serbia Serbia (, ; Serbian language, Serbian: , , ), officially the Republic of Serbia (Serbian language, Serbian: , , ), is a landlocked country in Southeast Europe, Southeastern and Central Europe, situated at the crossroads of the Pannonian Bas ...

. He travels on a train, a barge laden with a statue of

Lenin Vladimir Ilyich Ulyanov. ( 1870 – 21 January 1924), better known as Vladimir Lenin,. was a Russian revolutionary, politician, and political theorist. He served as the first and founding head of government of Soviet Russia from 1917 to 19 ...

(

Polyphemus Polyphemus (; grc-gre, Πολύφημος, Polyphēmos, ; la, Polyphēmus ) is the one-eyed giant son of Poseidon and Thoosa in Greek mythology, one of the Cyclopes described in Homer's ''Odyssey''. His name means "abounding in songs and lege ...

) and eventually a row boat. Though A makes some acquaintances along the way, he never lingers. His search for the roots of cinema, memory, and the Balkan identity pull him inevitably towards decay and death. eventually travels to the besieged

Sarajevo Sarajevo ( ; cyrl, Сарајево, ; ''see Names of European cities in different languages (Q–T)#S, names in other languages'') is the Capital city, capital and largest city of Bosnia and Herzegovina, with a population of 275,524 in its a ...

. He meets Ivo Levy (Erland Josephson), the curator of an underground cinema archive who had attempted to develop the missing reels before the war. A convinces Levy to continue his work with the reels. The film ends on a rare foggy day in Sarajevo. Ironically the fog protects locals from snipers and gives the city a rare chance to flourish. explores the city with Levy's family. Near the river the family encounters military personnel and are executed.

Cast

as A *

as Woman In A's Home Town (

Penelope Penelope ( ; Ancient Greek: Πηνελόπεια, ''Pēnelópeia'', or el, Πηνελόπη, ''Pēnelópē'') is a character in Homer's ''Odyssey.'' She was the queen of Ithaca and was the daughter of Spartan king Icarius and naiad Periboea. Pe ...

) / Kali ( Calypso) / Widow (

Circe Circe (; grc, , ) is an Magician (paranormal), enchantress and a minor goddess in ancient Greek mythology and Ancient Greek religion, religion. She is either a daughter of the Titans, Titan Helios and the Oceanid nymph Perse (mythology), Perse ...

) / Naomi (

Nausicaa Nausicaa (; grc, Ναυσικάα, Nausikáa, or , ) also spelled Nausicaä or Nausikaa, is a character in Homer's ''Odyssey''. She is the daughter of King Alcinous and Queen Arete of Phaeacia. Her name means "burner of ships" ( 'ship'; 'to b ...

) *

as Ivo Levy *

Thanassis Veggos Thanasis Veggos (alternatively spelt Thanassis and/or Vengos; Greek: Θανάσης Βέγγος; pronounced: ''Thanássis Véngos''; 29 May 19273 May 2011) was a Greek actor and director born in Neo Faliro, Piraeus. He performed in around 130 film ...

as Taxi Driver * Yorgos Michalakopoulos as Nikos * Dora Volanaki as The Old Lady In Albania * Mania Papadimitriou as A's Mother

Production

The film is part of Angelopoulos's trilogy on borders. It was his first film made outside of Greece. The film screening at the beginning of the film was inspired by a screening of Angelopoulos's earlier film ''

The Suspended Step of the Stork ''The Suspended Step of the Stork'' ( el, Το Mετέωρο Bήμα Tου Πελαργού, translit. ''To Meteoro Vima Tou Pelargou'') is a 1991 Greek film directed by Theodoros Angelopoulos. It was entered into the 1991 Cannes Film Fest ...

''. The dialog played over loudspeakers in the town square was spoken by

Marcello Mastroianni Marcello Vincenzo Domenico Mastroianni (28 September 1924 – 19 December 1996) was an Italian film actor, regarded as one of his country's most iconic male performers of the 20th century. He played leading roles for many of Italy's top di ...

The actor

Gian Maria Volonté Gian Maria Volonté (9 April 1933 – 6 December 1994) was an Italian actor, including roles in four Spaghetti Western films: Ramón Rojo in Sergio Leone's ''A Fistful of Dollars'' (1964) and El Indio in Leone's '' For a Few Dollars More'' ( ...

died during the filming. He was replaced by Erland Josephson and the film was dedicated to Volonté's memory.

Soundtrack

The score by

Eleni Karaindrou Eleni Karaindrou ( el, Ελένη Καραΐνδρου, born 25 November 1941) is a Greek composer. She is best known for scoring the films of the Greek director Theo Angelopoulos. Biography Karaindrou moved with her family to Athens when she wa ...

featuring

Kim Kashkashian Kim Kashkashian (born August 31, 1952) is an American violist. She is recognized as one of the world's top violists. She has spent her career in the US and Europe and collaborated with many major contemporary composers. In 2013 she won a Grammy A ...

on viola was released on the ECM label in 1995.

Accolades

Grand Jury Prize A film festival is an organized, extended presentation of films in one or more cinemas or screening venues, usually in a single city or region. Increasingly, film festivals show some films outdoors. Films may be of recent date and, depending upon ...

1995 Cannes Film Festival The 48th Cannes Film Festival was held from 17 to 28 May 1995. The Palme d'Or went to '' Underground'' by Emir Kusturica. The festival opened with ''La Cité des enfants perdus'', directed by Jean-Pierre Jeunet and closed with '' The Quick and t ...

*Critics Award 1995 -

European Film Academy The European Film Academy is an initiative of a group of European filmmakers who came together in Berlin on the occasion of the first presentation of the European Film Awards in November 1988. The Academy—under the name of European Cinema Soci ...

*All-TIME 100 Movies - ''

TIME Time is the continued sequence of existence and events that occurs in an apparently irreversible succession from the past, through the present, into the future. It is a component quantity of various measurements used to sequence events, to ...

'' magazine *The Top 100 Films of All Time - ''

The Moving Arts Film Journal ''The Moving Arts Film Journal'' is an online film magazine. It is based in Wichita, Kansas, United States. It is edited and published by Eric M. Armstrong, member of the Online Film Critics Society The Online Film Critics Society (OFCS) is ...

References

External links

* * * *
Ulysses' Gaze (1995)
TIME Magazine All-Time 100 best films {{Authority control 1995 drama films 1995 films English-language Greek films 1990s Greek-language films Romanian-language films Bosnian-language films Serbian-language films Films directed by Theodoros Angelopoulos Films shot in Serbia Films based on the Odyssey Films set in Greece Films set in Albania Films set in North Macedonia Films set in Bulgaria Films set in Bosnia and Herzegovina Films set in Romania Films set in Serbia Films with screenplays by Tonino Guerra Films scored by Eleni Karaindrou Films shot in Florina Greek drama films Modern adaptations of the Odyssey Cannes Grand Prix winners 1990s English-language films 1995 multilingual films Greek multilingual films