About

'Greek people have grown up caressing dead stones. I've tried to bring mythology down from the heights and directly to the people… The title is not 'Alexander the Great,' but 'Megalexandros,' who exists in popular, anonymous legends and fables, and has nothing to do with the historical Alexander… The legend of Megalexandros originated in 1453 under Turkish domination, and it has come down through oral tradition over the centuries. It embodies one the deepest of Greek sentiments, that of waiting for a liberator, even a Messiah… The film is based on two sources. One is 'The Book of Megalexandros,' which is an account of the legend, and provides the general climate of the film rather than the storyline. The second, more concrete source is an actual event in 1870 when a group of aristocratic English tourists were kidnapped by Greek bandits at Marathon. The bandits held them ransom and demanded amnesty from the government in exchange for the hostages… My films are very much about the problems of power, and they are political only in so far as the problems of power are political.' Theo Angelopoulos

Ages 18+