Ulysses' Gaze

"The first thing God created was the journey, then came doubt, and nostalgia," so says a character to Harvey Keitel in Theo Angelopoulis' existential epic through the Balkans. Keitel is one of the boldest and most consistent actors working today and always seems willing to take a risk with a film or a filmmaker. I was surprised to discover that most critics dismissed this film as an uttely pretentious bore, some even went so far as to claim that Angelopoulis must have contempt for his audience to subject them to this film. I couldn't be more surprised by these responses, because I found the film to be mesmerizing -- as if Tarkovsky had directed a modern adaptation of The Odyssey. Actually, in a way, this is a bit like Tarkovsky's Stalker in both concept and execution. Keitel plays a Greek-American filmmaker who returns to his homeland 30 years later on a quest to find three reels of film made in 1905 by a pair of filmmaker brothers, because he believes that it may be the first strips of motion picture film to capture the area. His journey takes him through the war torn Balkans and ultimately to Sarajevo. Throughout, he meets a number of women, all played by Maia Morgenstern (most recently seen as Mary in The Passion of the Christ), and ultimately he runs into Erland Josephsson. Two scenes in particular stand out to me: the first being a single unbroken shot that recounts his family history by way of New Years celebrations as people and objects come and go and new governements institute new laws (it must be seen to be truly understood); and the second being a massacre in the fog. The film is haunting and full of rich imagery. Perhaps I'm just a sucker for this kind of existential journey, but I would call this a great film.