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Greece/France/Italy. 130 minutes. Colour.

Directed by : Theo Angelopoulos
Idea and Screenplay : Theo Angelopoulos
In collaboration with : Tonino Guera and Petros Markakis
Cinematography : Giorgos Arvanitis, Andreas Sinanos
Edited by : Yannis Tsitsopoulos
Sound : Nikos Papadimitriou
Music : Eleni Karaindrou
Costumes : Giorgos Patsas
Sets : Giorgos Ziakas, Costas Dimitriadis
Executive Producer : Phoebe Economopoulos
With : Bruno Ganz (Alexander), Fabrizio Bentivoglio (the Poet), Isabelle Renauld (Anna), Achilleas Skevis (as the boy), Alexandra Ladikou (Anna's mother), Eleni Gerasimidou (Urania), Iris Hatziantoniou (Alexander's daughter), Nikos Kouros (Anna's uncle), Alekos Oudinotis (Anna's father), Nikos Kolovos (the doctor)
Production : Theo Angelopoulos, Greek Film Centre, Greek Television ET1, Paradis Films, IntermediasS.A , LA SEPT CINEMA
A Greek-French-Italian Co-production
with the participation of : Canal + , Classic Srl., Istituto Luce and WDR Cologne
This film was supported by EURIMAGES
Fund of the Council of Europe

Alexander's first monologue

-Lately my only contact with the world is this stranger who answers me
with the same music. Who is it? One morning I set out to find out,
but changed my mind. It would be better not to know... to imagine. A loner like me? Sometimes I like to imagine that perhaps it is a little girl playing
games with a stranger before leaving to go to school.
-Everything happened so fast! The suspicious pain... The doctors' sudden
silence... My persistence in wanting to find out... to know... And then the darkness... The body that no longer obeys... The body whose contours gradually fade in the mirror until it becomes but a shadow...
-Everything pointed to the fact that before the winter was over, with the
ethereal silhouettes of the ships outlined against a sudden break in the clouds,
lovers strolling on the waterfront at sunset, and the deceptive promise of spring... everything pointed to the fact that before the winter was over...
-The only thing I regret, Anna, is that I never finished anything. My plans
remained just that. Words strewn here and there... devoid of meaning.

Alexander's second monologue

-Mother, I came to say goodbye. I'm leaving. Why, mother?
Why didn't anything work out the way we expected? Why?
Why must we rot in silence torn between pain and desire?
Why have I lived my life in exile?
Why is it that the only moments when I returned were those rare times
when I was still granted the favour of speaking in my language... My own language... When I could still recover lost words or retrieve forgotten words from the silence...
Why is it then and only then that I could hear the sound of my footsteps echoing in my house?
Theo Angelopoulos

Eternity and A Day (1998)

--1998. Palme d'Or, Cannes Film Festival. Prize of the Ecumenical Jury.

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