Meteor & Shadow
Picture: C
Sound: C Extras: D Film: B-
Greece is known for its many contributions to the arts and
civilization, but it oddly does not seem to produce many motion pictures of
note. Takis Spetsiotis’ Meteor &
Shadow (1985) offers a decent historical film about the rise and fall of
Napoleon Lapathiotis. He lived from
1888 to 1945, when he died from his drug addiction and disconnection from
society, when the Fascist occupation kicked in. Before that, he was an openly gay poet whose very existence shook
up Greece’s conservative Aristocracy.
Their arrogance is not limited to Homophobia, however, as
the seeds for Napoleon’s self-destruction and Greece’s misfortunes during WWII
will bear out. Their conservatism will
cost them, while Napoleon’s Communist ideals will not protect him in the long
run. His work establishes him as a
brilliant writer, but his iconographic image in Greece and the literary
community will turn out to be a mixed blessing.
The 1.66 X 1 letterboxed image is a bit jumpy in the
beginning, but eventually settles. The
print already shows signs of age, but is not in bad condition otherwise. The film offers some fine set design and cinematography
by Philipos Koutsaftis that offers the viewer a privileged look into this
little seen world. Between that and the
editing, we get the feel of this world, with its easy detachments. It is always a little cold in some respect. The contrast between the world of old money
and secretive sexual rendezvous are made different, yet share a common
denominator that marks them as two sides of the same civilization. The times when Napoleon becomes a junkie
offer the only break, in more seedy areas in the city or places just outside.
The Dolby Digital 2.0 Greek Mono is adequate, with
dialogue that is clear enough, and some good music. That is good, because the subtitles of the Greek are not always
translating everything 100% of the time.
The film runs 101 minutes, but offers no extras, except two other
trailers for other Water Bearer DVDs.
The acting in the film is very good, with Takis Moschis
very convincing as Lapathiotis. The
film is never explicit or graphic about his homosexuality, actually avoiding
any directly warm portrayal of it to show how unconnected he is to all but one
early lover. We never even seem them
too involved. The
directing/editing/camerawork come together to show montages of pursuits or
encounters for sex, but show how alone the artist was on some profound level,
despite his ability to find many partners and other successes outside of that.
Any criticism that the lack of sex is self-censorship on
director Spetsiotis’ part misses the point.
This film is a character study of the man, as the title suggests, and of
the country that has been too good at keeping to itself. This film sheds a much-needed cinematic
light on the politics and hidden secrets of a great country and its upper
classes relevant even to today’s still hidden Greece.
- Nicholas Sheffo
