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List Price: $19.98 | | Label: Fox Lorber
Salesrank: 87076
Released: May 11, 1999 |
| Our Price: $48.89 |
| Used Price: $31.70 |
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MPAA Rating: NR (Not Rated)
Media: DVD |
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Editorial Review:
The Greek director Theo Angelopoulos, winner of the top prize at the 1998 Cannes Film Festival for Eternity and a Day, will never build an audience of casual filmgoers. But then he doesn't mean to. Demanding, difficult, portentous, Angelopoulos makes films in his own deliberate style: sometimes awe-inspiring, sometimes mystifying. When he's at his best, as in the beautiful and devastating Landscape in the Mist, the results can be spellbinding. Ulysses' Gaze is a typically fascinating, typically long (three hours) work. Harvey Keitel, moving through the film at an intense murmur, plays a Greek filmmaker known only as "A." After many years in America, he returns home for an odyssey in search of some early film footage shot in the Balkans, a quest that leads him through that war-torn area and finally into the bombed-out city of Sarajevo. Angelopoulos establishes such a dreamlike rhythm, and his images (like a giant stone head of Lenin, floating down a river) are so striking, that adventurous filmgoers should find this experience absorbing, if enigmatic. On the other hand, Roger Ebert described Ulysses' Gaze as "a numbing bore." But even he would probably admit that no one else on earth makes movies quite like Theo Angelopoulos. --Robert Horton
Ulysses' Gaze Reviews:
Excellent 
2008-09-23 - Greek filmmaker Theo Angelopoulos's 1995 film Ulysses' Gaze (To Vlemma Tou Odyssea) is the first of that director's four films that I have seen that is not unequivocally a great work of art. Yes, there are arguments that can be made in favor of that claim, but at 173 minutes in length, especially, it takes the most out of a viewer, especially considering that it's the least poetic of his films I've seen (which include Landscape In The Mist, Eternity And A Day, and Trilogy: The Weeping Meadow). This does not mean it is a bad film, nor that it lacks Angelopoulos's trademark visual poesy; it has that. But, there are some missing narrative elements, some poorly scripted moments, and a too slow dramatic movement, especially in the latter third of the film, which takes place in the city of Sarajevo.
The basic tale is that a nameless exiled Greek-American filmmaker, played by Harvey Keitel (and referred to as `A' in the DVD credits, and in many reviews, although nowhere in the film is the character's name mentioned), returns to the Balkans after thirty-five years, and is seeking to find three lost reels of footage from the earliest known extant Greek film, made by the Manakis Brothers (Yannakis and Miltos) in 1905. They seem to be near-mythic figures, who represent something akin to what D.W. Griffith was to American cinema, although they were documentarians, logging for decades the travails of the Balkans, and the dissolution of the Ottoman Empire, in the first half of the Twentieth Century.
Keitel's character seems to have more personal reasons for making this sojourn, and several possibilities are hinted at in flashback scenes, wherein Keitel simply wanders into his past, or a dream sequence involving the claimed death of one of the brothers. Keitel speaks mostly in English, while most of the other characters speak in Greek or the other native languages. The film does not rely on typical narrative to reveal Keitel's quest, rather on a barrage of slowly developing images that subsumes the story into an emotional upwelling. Often, the camera of cinematographers Yorgos Arvanitis and Andreas Sinanos slowly pans ahead of Keitel, then back toward him, or pulls away from a scene, turns 90 or 180 degrees, then swivels back and peers even more deeply at whatever scene it just left, as if to signal that what seems the same is different, which pulls a viewer into a closer reckoning of stasis vs. change,
Overall, this is a very good film. It also has a magnificently effective score by Eleni Karaindrou, especially with great viola passages by Kim Kashkashian, which seem almost organically part of Angelopoulos's visuals. Angelopoulos's film scores are perhaps the only ones which are the equal of the great Werner Herzog's films. This film's main flaws, however, lie in its screenplay. The film was penned by Angelopoulos, longtime Fellini and Angelopoulos collaborator Tonini Guerra, Giorgio Silvani, and Petros Markaris, but goes on a good 40 or so minutes too long. Some trimming of more pedestrian scenes by editor Yannis Tsitsopoulos, some neat Ozu-like elisions (which Angelopoulos makes expert use of in other films), and this film would have been a great film, if just shy of a masterpiece, due to several small forced moments of overacting, and soliloquies tinged lavender in their prose: `If I should but stretch out my hand I will touch you and time will be whole again,' uttered by Keitel. The film came in second at the Cannes Film Festival that year, winning the Grand Prix, not the Palm D'Or, but it has taken a beating from some critics. In this country, the most virulent review came from none other than that noted lover of Spielbergian tripe, Roger Ebert, who among other things, wrote:
What's left after Ulysses' Gaze is the impression of a film made by a director so impressed with the gravity and importance of his theme that he wants to weed out any moviegoers seeking interest, grace, humor, or involvement....It is an old fact about the cinema- known perhaps even to those pioneers who made the ancient footage A is seeking- that a film does not exist unless there is an audience between the projector and the screen. A director, having chosen to work in a mass medium, has a certain duty to that audience. I do not ask that he make it laugh or cry, or even that he entertain it, but he must at least not insult its good will by giving it so little to repay its patience. What arrogance and self-importance this film reveals.
Would that Ebert was so assertive about the vomit that the many Hollywood schlockmeisters he praises put out. Yes, this film is not a laugh riot, but there are some humorous moments, such as Keitel's interactions with an old Albanian woman he lets share a Greek cab with him. As for grace, interest, and involvement? Well, it's there, even if it requires a bit of intellectual cogitation on the part of a viewer, something that most Americans (and American critics) are unwilling to give. This is best illustrated by an anecdote Keitel's character tells, of taking a Polaroid photo of an olive tree that, when he watches develop, shows that the tree was not really there. Yet, we never see this anecdote's stunning imagery play out; it's only related via words, or the imagination, therefore all the more effective, in the way a great film like My Dinner With Andre is. Would that more people had that quality which Angelopoulos so manifestly owns, in the best moments of this work, and his other masterpieces; for then even flawed but excellent films like this would get their proper due.
Angelopolous's best work.... 
2007-11-10 - I recently saw a procession down my street dedicated to the Virgin Mary. It caught me completely by surprise. People just seem to keep coming and coming, and I thought to myself "it looked like a scene from a Theo Angelopolous film". This is my favorite of his works, and it's very typical of his films. It's long, serene, filled with long, beautifully choreographed long takes, and has a deeply spiritual core to it. Theo is at the same level as Tarkovsky, Tarr, and Dreyer in their use of long takes and meditative approach to films. The film doesn't really make much sense from a thematic standpoint, but from an emotional, artistic one, it makes a lot of sense. It's really an exceptional work, one that grows with mystery over time. Harvey Keitel blends in quite nicely here, and his presence doesn't overshadow the film. Theo is a true auteur, and Keitel is simply an actor in Theo's universe, which is an amazing place to be.
The transfer on this Fox Lorber DVD isn't good, but then this came out when DVD's first hit the market, and Fox Lorber didn't do good transfers then (except for Greenaway's A Zed and Two Naughts). Hopefully, a new DVD edition will be in the works soon.
My first Theo Angelopoulos' film 
2007-04-08 -
I have to confess that my introduction to Mr. A's works was not completely successful. He is a very talented film maker -this one is given. His shots are breathtaking, the music score takes you out of this world and the subject of the movie is quite respectable. What would you expect from the movie which title is "Ulysses' Gaze"? You would expect Ulysses embarking in the exhausting journey in search of his roots, himself, his one true love forgotten but still living deeply inside his soul which he "has to gaze into if he tries to find it" (according Plato). In this movie the roots are represented by the first cinematic footage ever filmed in Greece and Ulysses - Greek director "A" who had left his home country 35 years ago and now he is back and he HAS to find the footage. Why? Frankly, I am not sure but to find it he is ready to travel by car, by train, by boat, and by foot through the Balkan countries torn by war. In his quest, he also visits and relives his past as a young boy in the country he was born, later left but never was able to forget. He meets a lot of women who fell in love with him from the first sight but he seems to be forever captivated by one true love because every woman he meets has the same face (they all are played by the same actress, Maia Morgenstern). I like the movies like this - meaningful, personal, beautiful, the movies that have a lot to say but never rush. This movie has some problems though and one problem is called Harvey Keitel. I love Harvey, I think he is a great actor - brave, intense, ironic, clever, tough but vulnerable. Sadly, for all 173 minutes of "Ulysses Gaze", he looked like he was just about to say, "I am Mr. Wolfe. I solve problems but what am I doing here? How did I let myself take the role that I am so uncomfortable with?" Another problem may be in the unbearable self-importance of what Theo Angelopoulos had to say to the world. Or how he said it. There was one scene in the movie that could've been moving, warm, and beautiful - the people dance in the room, celebrate New Year and the dance continues on as the years pass by. It could've been moving but Angelopoulos chose to make it strangely cold and remote. Why? I don't know. There was one scene in the movie at the 2.5 hours mark that almost made me forget all the negatives - the orchestra on the snow in Sarajevo playing melody so marvelous that it could've easily been written by Orpheus whose music used to hypnotize every living creature on Earth.
I don't regret seeing this movie and I will see more Angelopoulos' films in the future but I could've done something better with 173 minutes of my life.
Emotional but with too many faults 
2006-07-01 - Apparently for some reason, the review I wrote of this movie was not accepted. I see that reviews I wrote later are already appearing on this site.
I watched this movie because it appeared on a list of the greatest films of all time. It doesn't belong on that list. It is poorly written.
I'll give you an example of the kind of thing that bothered me about it. Throughout the movie, Harvey Keitel is looking for three very old reels of undeveloped film. That is his quest, his odyssey. And yet when he finally runs into the man who was last known to have the reels, we are left hanging for too long. We don't find out whether he has them or not. The subject doesn't come up. The man tells Harvey that he looks tired and should get some sleep. So he does.
Why would they do that to us? It angers me. It is so manipulative. We were supposed to actually care, along with Keitel, about the reels. Excuse me, but I really don't care about them. The only reason I care is because you want me to. And now you have the nerve to play with me like this? Is that supposed to be artsy? I'd call it stupidity.
Another problem with this film is Keitel's monologues. He's not doing Shakespeare here. His delivery is almost Shakespearean in his monologues, and he cares too much about his pronunciation and not enough about just getting across the meaning of the lines. I sympathize because the writing is ponderous. What is he supposed to do with it?
There is the odd choice to cast the same girl over and over as his love interest, having her play different characters. It is confusing. The last of them tells him that she feels she has known him all her life. I'm not criticizing this odd approach. I'm just mentioning it. I'm not saying it was a bad idea. It's just awfully odd and confusing at first. Of course you recognize him - you just made love to him 10 minutes ago.
The ending is very heavy and emotional. You better be ready for it. Some innocent people get killed for no reason, as the executioner blames God for messing everything up. That makes no sense to me. That is no reason to kill innocent people. It is just senseless. Personally, I think there is a difference between senselessness and art. But the movie does get a kudo for being anti-war and emotionally agitating.
The story that never ends.
2005-07-20 - Up until 1995, all of Angelopoulos' films had for their subjects Greece, Greek history, and Greek myths. He continues somewhat with Ulysses' Gaze, but this time the filmmaker travels beyond the Greek borders into the neighboring Balkan countries. Except for the scenes taking place in Sarajevo, all the other scenes were filmed on location, in Albania, the Republic of Skopje, Bulgaria, Rumania, and Serbia. One must remember that at the time of the production (1994), the Balkan region was not exactly the safest place in the world. This enterprise represented some danger for Angelopoulos and his crew, and it would have been easier for the film to be shot in the safety of a studio, outside the areas of unrest. But Angelopoulos was not trained in the method of the Actor's Studio. More importantly, he believes that shooting in the actual locations of his stories enhances his sense of actually participating in the film itself, and therefore produces better outcomes. He therefore felt he had no choice but to chance it. For the Sarajevo episode, Angelopoulos was not able to get the necessary permission from the UN, so the Bosnian scenes were shot around Mostar, Vukovar, and in the Krijena region.
In Ulysses' Gaze, history is present, but contrary to his other film, The Travelling Players, where it was the theme, and the group of players rather than any individual character was the "star" of the film, in the present film, history is now relegated to the background, and since "A's" odyssey through the region is the main story, we see a more conventional character in the personage represented by Harvey Keitel (he is not named in the film, but he is known as "A" in the script), and also in the different characters who cross his path. However, the dialogues are often stylized, and this gives the actors, especially Keitel, a somewhat "mechanical" delivery, with the exception of Keitel's last monologue. This is in keeping with Angelopoulos' intent to occasionally distance his viewers from their emotional responses, forcing them to study and explore the identities of the characters. , The Romanian actress, Maia Morgenstern, plays the parts of the four women. These women can easily be identified with the women Homer's Ulysses came across during his voyage. They also represent all the women whom "A" had loved and lost in past. Gian Maria Volonté; who had been offered the role of Ivo Levy, died of a heart attack in Florina during the shooting of the film, and was replaced by Erland Josephson. Josephson is of course one of the main Bergman's actors, and his performance in his film is, as always, up to snuff. Angelopoulos actually dedicated Ulysses' Gaze to Gian Maria Volonté.
Giorgos Arvanitis, Angelopoulos's long time collaborator, is responsible for the stunning cinematography. Many of the scenes are long shots that are also long takes, lasting several minutes, Angelopoulos' undeniable signature. On several occasions, during some long takes, there is a shift in time, emphasizing history's continuity. The film's first scene, on the quay of Salonika, is particularly remarkable in its lyrical construction.
The music is by Greek composer Eleni Karaindrou. Her compositions for the cinema transcend the soundtrack's conventions. Her music does not merely accompany the story, it is an essential element of it. The score is a counterpoint to the cinematic action, and establishes an emotional climate, combining with the image to express what cannot be said in words.
Angelopoulos wrote the script with the collaboration of Tonino Guerra.
As the title of the film announces, Angelopoulos is taking us on a journey through the tumultuous Balkan region and on a time-travel through its 20th century history. It is, after all, where "the Great War" (that is, "great" in the sense of "awful") started, in Sarajevo, where the film ends eighty years later, among more massacres and mayhem. Angelopoulos considers himself a historian of 20th century Greece, who likes to bring lessons of the Hellenic myths into his discussions. I would like to emphasize that it is useless, and even detrimental to the enjoyment of Ulysses' Gaze, to try to see in this film the retelling of Homer's Odyssey in a contemporary context. Angelopoulos does not try to recount the Odyssey. Rather, the Odyssey is merely a reference point, and the missing films become the journey's Ithacan destination.
On one level, Ulysses' Gaze is a search for the roots of the cinema of the Balkans, and more generally, of the cinema itself. Ulysses' Gaze considers the importance of film in recording history, and its potential in influencing its future development. Angelopoulos also suggests early in the film, through the events taking place in Florina, that film, not the Hollywood-type schlock, but thought-provoking film such as his can influence people's lives.
The second theme is of course, the odyssey of "A" through the Balkans, and as Ulysses was, "A" must also be clever to overcome all the journey's obstacles in order to reach his goal, the lost film reels. But this journey is actually the individual nostalgic journey of a man in search of his past, his loves, and his losses. "A," a Greek-American, left his native country thirty years before. It is said that of all the immigrants who come to the United States, the ones who long the most for their native country are the Greeks. Many eventually return home, and "A" is just one more of them
Finally, the film is also a Balkans history lesson. The voyage goes on its long and weary itinerary over this hostile region, and as it proceeds, we learn about past but also about present events, which tore, and are still tearing, this area apart. Although Angelopoulos' political stand is well known, the film stays clear of any political moral regarding the Bosnian war. Angelopoulos cannot help but be pessimistic in that respect: "plus ça change et plus c'est la meme chose" is his only conclusion. In Homer's epic poem, Ulysses returns to Ithaca, kills all the suitors, and most likely, lives "happily ever after" with his Penelope. But in Ulysses' Gaze, Angelopoulos knows his history well: the real Balkans are not, nor have they ever been, a heaven of peace. So, the war goes on, and "A," although having attained his Ithaca, is still trapped in Sarajevo, with all of his friends dead. For "A," the odyssey continues, as he recites Homer's optimistic lines, which are aimed at the future, "When I return...." What has meaning to Angelopoulos is not so much the goal of the journey, but the journey itself: "The story that never ends."
Angelopoulos' films tend to be monumental and slow, with striking images and a dreamlike rhythm. His films require audience participation through the viewer's memories, thoughts, and feelings. In these respects, Ulysses' Gaze is undeniably an Angelopoulos film, and certainly one of his masterpieces. Notwithstanding most American reviewers, such as Roger Ebert who described Ulysses' Gaze as "a numbing bore," I highly recommend this film, although I understand that I probably will be cursed by many who, brainwashed by Hollywood directors, will have followed my advice and be rather disappointed by the experience. Ulysses' Gaze won the Grand Prix du Jury at the Cannes Film Festival and the FIPRESCI Prize, 1995.
