Weeping Meadow, The

Greek director Theo Angelopoulous' portrayal of war-ravaged Greece is framed by the tragic love story that unfolds in The Weeping Meadow. This first saga in his "Trilogy," spanning 1919-1949, opens with a visually stunning scene of refugees from Odessa crossing estuaries that show their haggard reflections in water, as if to double apparent hardship. While establishing Odessa's history in relation to the rise of Mussolini's Facist takeover, The Weeping Meadow unravels a complicated love triangle between Eleni (Alexandra Aidini), an Odessa girl, her lover, an unnamed young man (Nikos Poursadinis), and his lonely father, Spyros (Vassilis Kolovos), who also happens to be Eleni's fiancé. The plot often focuses on the young man's talent for accordion playing, and his musical group, headed by the feisty, impassioned fiddler, Nikos (Giorgos Armenis). But when Eleni's lover abandons her for America, she's captured by soldiers, imprisoned, and separated from her children. As in Cinema Paradiso, the human drama unfolding mimics its political settings, so that love quarrels heighten the sense of repression, and vice versa. When civil war breaks out, Eleni's life seems in shambles as well. Emotionally wrought, The Weeping Meadow is depressing but still lovely for its depth of character and portrayal of Greek culture. As with any love story, the film reminds the viewer how human relationships are fragile yet enduring. --Trinie Dalton