Theo Angelopoulos' "Landscape in the Mist" is not as emotionally involving as it should be, and yet it is still an oddly intriguing film. The story concerns two Greek children, Voula and Oreste, who were conceived out of wedlock by their mother. Too ashamed to tell them the truth, she claims their father is living in Germany. The kids run away, and encounter many odd incidents and people before the story reaches its conclusion, which involves a symbolic final shot that can be read in several different ways.
In depicting the ongoing struggle of the children, Angelopoulos keeps the two protagonists at too much of a distance for the audience to really identify with them. That's not to say that we do not feel sympathy for them in their plight, but it is hard to become attached to these characters when they are not given any distinct personalities or points of view. For instance, there is a scene halfway through the film where the Voula is brutally assaulted by a truck driver. I felt sorry for her character, but the scene didn't resonate throughout the rest of the film as it should have.
Still, "Landscape in the Mist" manages to succeed in spite of these flaws. Each scene has a different visual symbol attached to it that grabs the attention of the viewer. My two favorite moments involved Voula and Oreste running through the snow as surrounding villagers stand motionless staring into the sky, and the two watching a giant stone hand being pulled out of the sea by a helicopter and flying off into the distance. The former displays the perseverance of the children in a rigid adult world, and the latter hints that the two are being guided in their journey by an invisible force. Angelopoulos has given us a film that shows the innocence of children pitted against the brutal realities of the modern world, and has given us an admirable, if flawed, picture.
In depicting the ongoing struggle of the children, Angelopoulos keeps the two protagonists at too much of a distance for the audience to really identify with them. That's not to say that we do not feel sympathy for them in their plight, but it is hard to become attached to these characters when they are not given any distinct personalities or points of view. For instance, there is a scene halfway through the film where the Voula is brutally assaulted by a truck driver. I felt sorry for her character, but the scene didn't resonate throughout the rest of the film as it should have.
Still, "Landscape in the Mist" manages to succeed in spite of these flaws. Each scene has a different visual symbol attached to it that grabs the attention of the viewer. My two favorite moments involved Voula and Oreste running through the snow as surrounding villagers stand motionless staring into the sky, and the two watching a giant stone hand being pulled out of the sea by a helicopter and flying off into the distance. The former displays the perseverance of the children in a rigid adult world, and the latter hints that the two are being guided in their journey by an invisible force. Angelopoulos has given us a film that shows the innocence of children pitted against the brutal realities of the modern world, and has given us an admirable, if flawed, picture.