MEGALEXANDROS involves the transformation of a person into a tyrant. It does not aim only at the phenomenon of fascism or of Stalinism, but also any type of power. The view expressed in MEGALEXANDROS is that of the danger of the transformation of any authority or power, regardless of how good its intentions were at the beginning, into despotism.»

Theo Angelopoulos

«Through his lens, Angelopoulos looks at things in silence. It is the weight of this silence and the intensity of the immobile stare of Angelopoulos' camera which makes MEGALEXANDROS so powerful that the viewer cannot break away from the screen. This kind of filmmaking, so personal and unique in its particularity, tends to return to the roots of cinema. This is precisely what creates the impression of freshness and strength. As for myself, watching this film I deeply felt the pleasure of cinema in the most absolute meaning of the term.»

Akira Kurosawa

MEGALEXANDROS
(Greece-Italy. 1980. 210 minutes. Colour)

Directed by : Theo Angelopoulos
Screenplay by : Theo Angelopoulos and Petros Markaris
Cinematography by : Giorgos Arvanitis
Sets by : Mikes Karapiperis
Music by : Christoodoulos Halaris
Costumes by : Giorgos Ziakas
Sound mixing by : Thanassis Georgiadis
Edited by : Giorgos Triantafillou
Produced by : Nikos Angelopoulos
Executive producer : Phoebe Stavropoulou
Executive producer (R.A.I.) : Lorenzo Ostuni
Production : R.A.I., Z.D.F., Theo Angelopoulos Productions, Greek Film Centre
With : Omero Antonutti, Eva Kotamanidou, Grigoris Evanelatos, Michalis Yannatos, Laura de Marchi, Francesco Ranelutti, Brizio Montinaro, Norman Mozato, Claude Betan, Toula Stathopoulou, Thanos Grammenos, Christophor Nezer, Ilias Zafiropoulos.

SYNOPSIS
The film is a study of the 20th century cult of personality - the myth, the lure and the corruption of the political hero who is a fusion of two characters. Drawing from the so-called Dilessi incident of 1870 (updated in the film to the dawn of the twentieth century), this Megalexandros is a bandit of the sort that typically plagued nineteenth century Greece. Wrapped in the spiritual cloak of yet another Megalexandros - a legendary Greek liberator and King Arthur-like figure whose tale originated in 1453 under Turkish domination and has come down through oral tradition over the centuries - he becomes a leader of mysterious charisma. He kidnaps a group of English aristocrats and takes them to a mountain village where he is attempting to establish an agrarian commune among a company of Italian anarchists. The socialist hero becomes a Stalin-like tyrant whose trademark silence only reinforces his power. The film is a true work of demythification - from the roots of myth to the false promises of the new century.