It is impossible to describe Kanellopoulos’ delicate psychology without having seeing some of his unparalleled images first. A portrait of the most poetic filmmaker in Greek cinema.
Featuring:
Syrakos Danalis, Andreas Tyros, Elias Kanellis, Alexandra Ladikou, Apostolos Kryonas, Spiros Focas, Thodoros Adamopoulos, Kostas Lahas, Pantelis Voulgaris, Nikos Mamangakis.
Cinematography:
Dimitris Kordelas - Kostas Sidiropoulos
Editing:
George Dialektopoulos
Sound:
Dimitris Vasileiadis
Research & Directed by
Elias Giannakakis
That was my first work for “Paraskinio”. I decided to make a documentary on director Takis Kanellopoulos from Thessaloniki for the simple reason that I loved him. His breathtakingly beautiful and utterly cinematic images, his ethos, his sensitivity, his subject matters and that forgotten Greece he had preserved in his films had always moved me.
Even though it was a documentary with many interviews, which usually leads to a rather television-like approach, I think that in the end it succeeded in showcasing Kanellopoulos’ unique emotional universe, which was the main objective.
That gave me courage and confidence to carry on.
Perhaps the best parts of the episode involved filming the house of the “Excursion”, which still stood intact after 35 years. That in itself was not only touching, but also a great lesson on the power of the live document itself, against the most eloquent testimony about it.
And of course the closing scene with Spiros Focas, epitomizes Kanellopoulos’ psyche.
I will never forget how moved all the interviewees were and their respect for Kanellopoulos.
I remember Elias Kanellis’ passion, Andreas Tyros’s emotional involvement, as he comes from Thessaloniki himself, and the always astute and sentimentally measured commentary of Pantelis Voulgaris. I had spoke many times on the phone with Lilly Papagianni, the unforgettable leading lady of the “Excursion”, who was reclusive and didn’t wish to be shown on camera.
But she had a fervent desire to speak about the “Excursion” and Kanellopoulos, the best chapter in her career, both professionally and artistically. Being a novice, I had reservations about using only her voice as she had suggested.
I was wrong.
