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Director
Nikos Koundouros
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Script
Nikos Koundouros
Stratis Karras |
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Producer
GREEK FILM CENTRE
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Language
Greek
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Colour
Colour
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Genre
Historical adventure
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Source
Venezis, Ilias. Number 31328. |
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Format
35 mm
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Summary
Just before the retreat of the Greek army from Smyrna, Greeks and Armenians sense the danger that is silently infiltrating the narrow streets of the city. Those who don’t manage to board the ships find themselves trapped in a city awaiting its destruction. Some are murdered, others are arrested and taken on death marches inland. In the fall of 1922 the personal tragedies of anonymous people write the epilogue of the Asia Minor Disaster.
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Cinematography
Nikos Kavoukidis
Editor
Panos Papakyriakopoulos
Production Manager
Giannis Petropoulakis
Petros Raptis
Set Designer
Mikes Karapiperis
Costume Designer
Dionysis Fotopoulos
Sound
Adreas Achladis
Nikos Achladis
Make-up
Giorgos Stavrakakis
Assistant Director
Stavros Konstantarakos
Lefteris Haronitis Giannis Basipaglis
Music Composer
Βιολί
Μουσικά Κομμάτια
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Actors
Adigoni Amanitou
Zacharias Rochas Nikos Kapios Vasilis Kolovos Olga Tournaki Bety Valasi Eleonora Stathopoulou Vasilis Laggos Giorgos Charalabidis Vasos Andronidis Grigoris Dounis Vasilis Tsaglos Michalis Giannatos Gogou Katerina Lazaridou Olia Mairi Thivaiou Giannis Rozakis Petros Zarkadis Minas Chatzisavvas Dinos Doulgerakis Kostas Bakalis Michalis Aggelidakis Afroditi Tzovani Panos Anastasopoulos Giorgos Oikonomou Nikos Tsachiridis Panagiotis Botinis Dimitris Koukis Alkis Panagiotidis Tak Osman Panagiotis Kaldis Dimitris Katsimanis Stamatis Tzelepis Stavros Mermygis Dimitris Kataleifos Giannis Fakis Vasilis Tsibidis Tasos Polychronopoulos Kyriakos Efthymiou Giorgos Maglaras Pari Korachai Tasos Sideris Dimitris Tzoumakis Nikos Xanthis Kostas Kokkinos Nikos Kakalios Katerina Vanezi Takis Theofanidis Stavros Tsikoudakis Dimitris Ourailidis Nikos Iliopoulos Stefanos Papageorgiou Nikos Fronimopoulos Nina Avataggelou Giorgos Tromaras Adreas Souglakos Takis Challas Neder Abdel |
This film is an achievement in terms of production, given the magnitude of the impressive result. It’s an epic made with limited means, and a serious attempt on the part of its author to shape a mode of fairly ‘popular’ cinematic communication, without forsaking his personal concerns and explorations of form. Art dealing with history is, inevitably, doubly subjective. It is born the moment its author exposes directly his or her subjectivity, recording, that is, his or her history, which is that of a human being that has a specific personality and class origin. The film consists of a fairly liberal narrative of dramatic events on an epic scale, and a singular meditation on history. This meditation is certainly not a ‘ballad’, as Koundouros believes; in other words, it isn’t a simple, tranquil epic account of particular events. Its wild naturalism and temporal rigour, which subvert the deliberately parallel actions, create an indisputably horizontal plane. By contrast, the film’s rhythm, which is often outstanding, develops within a spatial context into a dynamically mutable visual composition. In most cases, the characters (or the horses) move forward or backward, to the left or to the right, while the camera ‘converses’ with them subjectively, harassing them tormentingly, violating the bodies in an encounter of ecstasy and torture, both of which are reversible. It’s a strange dance, in which movement consists in a series of stillnesses – fatal and monumental confrontations. That’s where Koundouros’s real strength lies, that’s what the film draws much of its sap from, showing him to be a unique director of a certain magnitude. The film 1922 is a valiant and enormous task, which doesn’t always fulfil its aspirations. Nevertheless, it is a remarkable and frequently overwhelming experience; a film that has relevance, made by one of the masters of Greek cinema.
Film Critic
Thessaloniki Film Festival (Greece) 1978 Α΄ Best Fiction Film Award Best Director Award Best Cinematography Award Best Set Design Award Best Leading Actor Award Best Leading Actress Award Cape-Town Film Festival (South Africa) 1982 Best Fiction Film Award Best Director Award
