The Suspended Step of the Stork (1991)
Directed by Theo Angelopoulos
Duration: 143 mins
The Suspended Step of the Stork inaugurates Theo Angelopoulos “Trilogy of Borders.” A TV journalist is in a town on the border of Greece where refugees await approval of their papers. He notices an old man in the refugee camp whom he suspects is a famous Greek politician who, years ago, disappeared without a trace. He works to uncover the man's story, meeting one of his old lovers in the process. A world-weary Marcello Mastroianni plays the mysterious refugee with Jeanne Moreau as the politician’s embittered wife who may hold the key to his identity.
ABOUT THE DIRECTOR
Theo Angelopoulos was born in Athens in 1935. He enrolled at the Law School, University of Athens, but dropped out before graduation. In 1961, he moved to Paris, where he attended courses of French literature and ethnology at the Sorbonne University and film courses at the French Institute of Cinema (IDHEC) and the Musée de l’Homme. After his return to Greece in 1964, he worked as a film critic for the newspaper “Demokratiki Allaghi” until 1967. In 1968, he presented his short film debut, Broadcast, at the Thessaloniki Festival of Greek Cinema. In 1970, his first feature film, Reconstruction, won the Best Film award the Thessaloniki Festival of Greek Cinema and further awards abroad, marking the emergence of contemporary Greek cinema. Since then, he gained international acclaim with his masterpieces (The Traveling Players, Alexander the Great, Voyage to Cythera, Landscape in the Mist, The Suspended Step of the Stork, Ulysses’ Gaze, and Eternity and a Day, among others), was honored with awards at the world’s leading festivals (Palme d’Or, Grand Prix, and Best Screenplay Award at the Cannes Film Festival, Golden Lion at the Venice Film Festival, Félix Award-Best European Film of the Year, etc.), and is considered one of the greatest directors of contemporary cinema. He died on January 24, 2012.
Saturday, March 15, 2025
5:00 p.m.