Eternity And A Day [1998]

Veteran Italian screenwriter Tonino Guerra, together with Greek writer Petros Markaris collaborated with Angelopoulos on the script. The production reunites Angelopoulos' Ulysses' Gaze team -- coproducers are Eric Heumann's Paradis Film (France), Giorgio Silvani's Intermedia Films (France), and Amedeo Pagani's Classic Films (Italy); producer is Phoebe Economopoulos.

Theo Angelopoulos creates a stunningly haunting, seamless fusion of reality, nostalgia, and dreams in Eternity and a Day. Using long takes and reverse tracking, Angelopoulos creates a visual metaphor for the isolation of the soul: the hallway shot of Alexandre after Urania's departure; a team of window washers descending on cars at a stop light; the framed shot of Anna by the gate of the summer house. Moreover, recurrent images of abandoned buildings, repeated flights of Albanian refugees across the border, and the unfinished poem, reflect Alexandre's regret over his own unresolved actions. Figuratively, Alexandre, too, is a stranger - longing to recapture an irretrievable past -unable to return home.

..."Alexandre..." After this movie this name with always reminds you poetry... L'éternité et un jour


eternity in a grain of sand   December 1, 2000
 2 out of 4 found this review helpful

Accidently tuning in to 'Late Junction' on Radio 3 while on my way to John Peel I heard 'To a Dead Friend' from this CD. I was absolutely stunned. A meditative piece for clarinet and string orchestra it almost sounded like a world music cover of the opening of 'Wish You Were Here' by Pink Floyd - plaintive melodies over a hushed accompaniement which took me out of this world. I didn't hear the title and for the first time in years I just had to find out what I was listening to. Searching through the Net I got this CD from Amazon and was enchanted from beginning to end. 'Eternity' is a set of closely related pieces which together form a truly beguiling sound-world from the quasi-classical tracks like the 'Eternity theme' and its variants to the folk-tinged melodies of 'Wedding Dance' and 'Bus'. I've never seen the film but this certainly makes me want to. If you're a fan of Enya to the Cocteau Twins, John Barry to Nino Rota I'm sure you'll love this.


a story of ageing, nostalgia, death as well as optimism   June 6, 2000
 0 out of 1 found this review helpful

'what is tomorrow?', asks Alexander, an ageing author, recalling his dead wife and facing the prospects of his own death. 'Ethernity and a Day' comes the reply. The duality of optimism and and death is a major themse of this film. A bit slow, though.