Eternity and a Day

Profound, dense, philosophical. Angelopoulos & Ganz? Not surprised this kind of deep film resulted from that pairing.

People nowadays have been eating loads of belly-filling greasy junk food which is mostly spoon-fed by American streamlined production companies. People have lost the appreciation of how valuable beautifully crafted long takes are. How it navigates the collective space called society and the collective time called history, through an individual's subjective lens. An old man who fears the present lingers between his yesterday and tomorrow, his pain and desire, his secular attachment to his lost wife and his spiritual ambitions of his unfinished book. His introspection appears in his self talking to his dying mother in a care center. He questioned why he abandoned his native language and pursued a new one with his life, while the Albanian little boy constantly ran away from him, from the child traffickers, from his tragic homeland. When Alexsantro stoped sending the little boy back to his country and the little boy stoped run away from Alex, their intention of separating their path of life is gone. Alex shouted vulnerably in tears to the child "Stay with me!" the imagined line between secular and spiritual faded and two lonely islands float on the endless sea together side by side for one day, for eternity.

Greek cinema at its finest, pure art

I'm scared, Selim. The sea is too big.

Final episode of a trilogy that got started at the beginning of the 90s, Angelopoulos asks himself the same questions that the writer Samuel Beckett once did: how to end? And he adds a new precision that will make an impact in the final answer: how to end one's life when there is only one day left to live? It is when our time is limited that we paradoxically make the most of it and we understand this by witnessing Alexandre's trip between the past, the present and the future in the last day of his life. Even though he metaphorically travels through his memories, his present will to take the boy to the border gives him the chance to make a last good action before his death. The photography, that goes from cold colours for scenes from the present to warm colors for the flashbacks, is dazzlingly full of sobriety. The words from the letters that give this poetical Odyssey its tempo are so wise that they fill us with wonder. And when we finally get the answer to the question "Tomorrow, how long does it last?", we realize that Alexandre is ready and he is no longer afraid to die. "Eternity and a day" is a magnificent legacy of this director who passed away too early but who left us several masterpieces and awards. Full review on our blog Los Indiscretos : https://losindiscretos.org/english/eternity-and-a-day-1998-theodoros-angelopoulos/

Definitely not for everybody. But for those who care, this film provides a wonderful chance to think about death. The film contrasts two kinds of death: natural, prepared death that is defined by aging and medical conditions ("I have a cancer, and I have 3 more months to live"), and abrupt, unprepared death that is figured in the movie as the political death of illegal aliens. Showing the interaction between a dying, old poet and an illegal immigrant boy, the movie suggests that the second kind of death - the death that gets us by surprise and leaves us no time to prepare for a transition from life to death - is unworthy of human dignity.

I watched it in a state where I was drifting in and out from inner thoughts based on the film. Not many films get you in that mood. It reminds me of the other Angelopoulos flick I have seen, "Landscape In The Mist". Otherwise it's like few other. Several ideas and thoughts about the film are in my mind - what is it about? It's about a whole lot I would say. This is a very poetic film with a strong story. It's so amazingly shot with it's slow movements and long shots, it's as perfect as it is natural. Beautiful images - dense and fog-like, still filled with purity. It has some fantastic music, making it very meditative. This is one of those slow, hazy films that you can let your mind go away with. If you focus hard it still gives you a whole lot. The wedding scene is a stand out for me. So is the final scene among others. Bruno Ganz is certainly one hell of an actor - picking great films as well. It will need some time in my head to grow on me, but it will stay there for a very long time. I'm sure of it. 8.5 out of 10 yellow bike riders.

very slow but watchable

A very poetic and hypnotic piece, subdued, yet pathetic.

A strikingly eccentric and very poetic film about the encounter of two characters - one who is troubled by his past while the other is worried about his future.