Mia aioniotita kai mia mera (1998)

Director:

Theodoros Angelopoulos

Writers:

Theodoros Angelopoulos (idea and scenario)
Tonino Guerra (co-writer) ...

Release Date:

28 May 1999 (USA)

Genre:

Drama

Plot:

Alexander, a famous writer, is very ill and has only a few days to live. He meets a little boy on the street, who is an illegal immigrant from Albania. Alexander then takes the boy home.

Plot Keywords:

Greece | Long Take | Emigrant | Poet | Soul Searching

Awards:

10 wins & 2 nominations

Cast

Bruno Ganz	...	Alexandre
Isabelle Renauld	...	Anna
Fabrizio Bentivoglio	...	The Poet
Achileas Skevis	...	The Child
Alexandra Ladikou	...	Anna's Mother
Despina Bebedelli	...	Alexandre's Mother
Eleni Gerasimidou	...	Urania
Iris Chatziantoniou	...	Alexandre's Daughter
Nikos Kouros	...	Anna's Uncle
Alekos Oudinotis	...	Anna's Father
Nikos Kolovos	...	The Doctor
rest of cast listed alphabetically:
Andreas Chekouras
Mihalis Giannatos		(as Michalis Yannatos)
Petros Markaris
Yannis Mohlas
Efthimis Pappas	...	Party attendant
Maria Saltiri	...	Woman
Vassilis Seimenis	...	Son-in-Law
Leonidas Vardaros

Also Known As:

Eternity and a Day (International: English title) (UK) (USA)
Μια αιωνιότητα και μια μέρα (Greece)
Die Ewigkeit und ein Tag (Germany)
L'éternité et un jour (France)
L'eternità e un giorno (Italy)

Runtime:

137 min

Country:

Greece | France | Germany | Italy

Language:

Greek | English

Color:

Color

Aspect Ratio:

1.75 : 1

Sound Mix:

Dolby SR

Certification:

Spain:7 | Argentina:Atp | Chile:TE | Finland:S | France:U | Hong Kong:I | Portugal:M/12 | South Korea:All | Sweden:7 | Switzerland:12 (canton of Geneva) | Switzerland:12 (canton of Vaud) | UK:PG | USA:Unrated

Filming Locations:

Thessaloniki, Greece

Company:

Theo Angelopoulos Films

Movie Connections:

Referenced in "Hrysa koritsia: (#1.15)" (2008)

Soundtrack:

Asma asmaton

Eternity and A Day - the title, not meant to refer to the film's length.

Many of us who viewed Eternity and a Day at January's 1999 Palm Springs International Film Fest, had our fun afterwards, cracking jokes at the length this film (132 minutes) in relationship to its title. There were scenes that seemed quite never ending, the wedding dance scene, to name just one. Nevertheless, take some of it away, and the symmetry of the film might well be broken. Then again, there is an awful lot of symbolism to digest all at one sitting. So go to see it on empty, and come away fully nourished and satisfied.

Greek director Angelopoulos has created a spellbinding tour de force. Eternity and a Day is a brilliant film in it's haunting poetic imagery.

I highly recommend this prized Greek film, an American Oscar submission.