About

I would like to believe the world will be saved by the cinema. Cinema is my world and it is the scope of all my journeys. I am always searching for secret little utopias that will enchant me; I am doing my best to believe in the relevance of these trips I am constantly embarking on through my films.

In Voyage to Cythera, Angelopoulos shifts focus from the historical events of his previous films and grapples with a contemporary moment haunted by the past. It follows the release of the 1980 general amnesty permitting exiled Greek communists to return on temporary visas, and tells the story of Spyros (Manos Katrakis), an aging political refugee who has returned after 32 years in Uzbekistan. While Spyros tries to reconnect with his family and ancestral homeland, he feels estranged and disillusioned by the changes occurring. His refusal to sign a deal to transform his village into a holiday resort opens up painful memories for locals, who hold him responsible for the country's economic malaise. Angelopoulos's film within a film functions as an allegory for contemporary Greece, with allusions to Homer's The Odyssey and pilgrimages to the birthplace of Aphrodite. Deported and set adrift in international waters, the fate of Spyros's journey home represents a political stalemate for a country trying to move beyond its devastating past.

Ages 18+