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A famous father, a talented daughter

01 April 2011 / 17:04:31  GRReporter
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Is the name of the father when it comes to the famous Greek director Todoros Angelopoulos so burdensome for his daughter, Eleni Angelopoulos. She is young, talented and her childhood has nothing to do with mine and yours. She grew up in a house where it was discussed in the kitchen that the film should be a political message, and her father took his children to Sarajevo while he was shooting a film during the war. She is the youngest daughter of the director, but instead of saying that "her last name opens doors, but makes people suspicious," she is a special girl who loves watching the films of Mikhalkov since she was a small child and does not like the Hollywood productions. "The only commercial production that I watch is Dr. House," she said.

The first verse that impressed her as a child was Sahturis’: "My head is full of dreams, my hands are full of mud."

At the age of 25, Eleni has many performances already, but her last performance on poems of the poet Ritsos in Albanian and Iranian languages, made a furor in the theatrical circles. "I was reading Ritsos at school but then I was not impressed. I began to hate poetry in high school. I did not like the way it was presented. But a teacher let me hear Moonlight Sonata by Ritsos in his performance and that fascinated me," says Eleni in an interview for the Madame Figaro magazine. Some time ago she was offered to perform the Ritsos’ Fourth Dimension and she took the challenge, but the actors in her "dimension" read Ritsos in foreign languages ​​- Iranian and Albanian. "I expect the spectator to give in without trying to understand the language. If you give in, what you win is that you can understand without understanding," said Eleni, adding that "people want to see real things, not to pretend. They do not want things the TV and the American cinema offer, which make feelings but they are not ours indeed."

Eleni Angelopoulous says that she is proud of her surname, but prefers people not to fear so much of it. When asked what she would like to tell her father in public, she replies disarmingly: "I would say: "Mr. Angelopoulos, you gave an exclusive interview for Vima a few days ago, which I hope to be read by many people my age." After talking about the political situation in Greece, said that young people should not emigrate from the country now. If we all leave there will remain no one to protect this country. If we allow the clowns up there to do whatever they want, you know what will happen ..."

But what if she was not born in the family of her father and lived in an average family, if her parents had a pastry shop, and she was moderately good educated. "I would never have started working in the family pastry shop, that's for sure. I would not even help. I could not ... I do not know what my life would be. Probably my childhood would be more carefree, more relaxed, more everyday," she replies. "My childhood was very different from that of each of my acquaintances. My parents are not the most ordinary people in the world. To take your child to Sarajevo during the war while shooting a film is not the most ordinary thing. Running from place to place to see your parents, to different cities and countries and under difficult conditions, generally in unbelievable cold and snow was something that I liked a lot, but it is not ordinary at all."

When she was a small child, her mother sang Summertime as lullaby. But music was rarely heard in the family's house because Dad wanted peace and quietness. This is the cause for the strife between the parent and his daughter. Eleni wonders whether she will be able to shoot a film because "the times are difficult," as she says.

Based on publications of Madame Figaro

 

Tags: NewsCinemaTheatre
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