Days of '36 explained

Days of '36
Native Name:Μέρες του '36
Director:Theo Angelopoulos
Starring:Kostas Pavlou
Thanos Grammenos
Giorgos Kyritsis
Petros Zarkadis
Christoforos Neezer
Toula Stathopoulou
Christos Kalavrouzos
Vasilis Tsaglos
Giannis Kandilas
Petros Hoidas
Takis Doukatos
Petros Markaris
Kostas Sfikas
Christoforos Himaras
Vangelis Kazan
Alekos Boubis
Giorgos Tzifos
Kaiti Ibrohori
Yannis Smaragdis
Thanassis Valtinos
Lambros Papadimitrakis
Titika Vlahopoulou
Yanka Avayianou
Kiriakos Katrivanos
Panos Kokkinopoulos
Kostas Mandilas
Producer:Giorgos Papalios
Cinematography:Giorgos Arvanitis
Vasilis Hristomoglou
Editing:Vasilis Syropoulos
Music:Giorgos Papastephanou
Studio:Papalios Productions
Distributor:Trigon-film
Runtime:105 minutes
Country:Greece
Language:Greek

Days of '36 (Greek, Modern (1453-);: Μέρες του '36|italic=yes|translit=Méres tou '36) is a 1972 Greek dramatic independent underground art film directed by Theo Angelopoulos. Its title is a tribute to Constantine P. Cavafy.

Filmed during the Regime of the Colonels, the film draws parallels between the regime and the dictatorship of Ioannis Metaxas, but it does so implicitly, in order to escape censorship. Angelopoulos elsewhere speaks of an "aesthetic of the unspoken." He points out that the most important things always happen out of the field of view, behind closed doors or on the phone. When something is said, it is only whispered. According to Angelopoulos, he called the film "the opposite of Z".[1]

Synopsis

In May 1936, in a Greece riven by political strife, a trade union leader is assassinated. Sofianos, a petty criminal and smuggler as well as a police informant and leftist agitator, is accused of the murder. Kept incommunicado in a room separate from the other detainees, his only two visitors are a member of parliament from the Conservative Party and his driver, who is also his brother. One day, Sofianos takes the member of parliament as a hostage inside his cell to obtain his release before midnight; it is not clear how he has obtained the revolver which he was using. The prison guards are powerless, while the warden is under pressure from his political bosses to find a quick resolution to the standoff.

Sofianos's lawyer tries to reason with him, explaining to his client that the weapon in his possession is a trap that has been set up for him, and that by taking the deputy as a hostage he is playing the game of those who accuse him. The lawyer conducts an investigation to exonerate Sofianos but ends up being beaten up in a deserted street.

In the meantime, an escape attempt takes place in the prison, but three escapees are caught up in the countryside.

Under pressure from representatives of the major powers, the political and prison authorities are trying to put an end to the hostage-taking by various means, including the poisoning of the prisoner. Eventually, at nightfall, a sniper shoots Sofianos in his cell.

The next morning, the three escapees are shot and the body of Sofianos is added to the funeral truck.

Technical information

Cast

Awards

It was awarded Best Director and Best Picture at the Thessaloniki Festival of Greek Cinema in 1972. At the Berlin International Film Festival in 1973, it received a prize from the International Federation of Film Critics.

Bibliography

External links

Notes and References

  1. Book: Thodōros Angelopoulos . Fainaru . Dan . Theo Angelopoulos - Interviews . 2001 . University Press of Mississippi . 9781578062164 . 13 . Ulrich Gregor/1973 . Interviewer: "This apparent naturalism is evident in the very careful way you draw each one of your characters." Angelopoulos: "With an intentional pinch of irony. I tried to use satire for the portrait of this bunch of goons that were ruling the country. Also, I had to keep in mind the formula of political cinema that emerged after the films of Rosi and Costa Gavras. The Days of '36 is the opposite of Z. In Gavras's film there is a clear distinction between heroes and villains. The same goes for the situations. Everything is predictable, it fits in with the middle-class ideology. My films are trying to be more hybrid, without a beginning or an end. I attempt to introduce a sort of "anti-suspense" ritual, something of the kind Oshima created in Death by Hanging, recently released in Greece.".