The author of this blog is Keke, a young filmmaker.
The film Mia aioniotita kai mia mera, which is also called eternity and a day, is directed by Theo Angelopoulos who is honored as the last great serious filmmaker (Romney, 1999). Angelopoulos widely uses long slow takes in his films, which can create a serene and poetic atmosphere adequately. This film style is also presented in Eternity and a day. This blog will focus on the last shot of the film and analyze how this shot ends the whole film.
The last shot is from 01:58:33 to 02:05:58 and lasts 7 minutes and 25 seconds. The protagonist Alexander ends the whole day with the Albania boy and stops his car at the crossing all night. The next morning, he speeds straight towards the distance. Then he arrives at his house by the sea. In the last shot, he meets his mother and daughter, and dances with his wife Anna then looks to the sea and finish his life.
There is a small detail in this shot, which is that his shoulders and back are wet on his clothes. Since it is raining yesterday night, it suggests that it is the current timeline. Although his wife Anna has appeared many times before, all those moments are memories. This time Anna appears in the true time, which shows this shot is a surrealist shot. Therefore, the basic atmosphere of this shot is dreamy, fantasy and poetic.
The last shot can be divided into three parts generally. The first part is before Alexander appears in the frame. With the voiceover of Alexander’s wife, ‘Give me this day’, the door is slowly opened itself. Alexander’s mother is sitting on the balcony with his daughter in the baby carriage. They are the most valuable people in his life so show up at the beginning of his day. Under the balcony, Anna and some friends are singing by the sea.
The cinematographer uses Steadicam to push in the camera over Alexander’s mother and daughter and show an extremely long shot of the wife and guests. The music is melodious and the scenery is beautiful. Then Anna turns back, finds Alexander, and calls him. Then the camera may be mounted on a crane and move down the stairs over the railing slowly. The movement of the camera is quite a fantasy and poetic. When Anna comes towards Alexander, the camera is slowly pushing in. The frame here is quite loose. The guests and the sea are in the background and the path and the soil are in the foreground. The color tends to be light. It is a beautiful beginning.
The second part is after Alexander showing up and before Anna disappearing. The guests come up and they begin to sing and dance.
The camera is pushing in and the shot changes from long shot to medium close-up. The guests are hugging and dancing around them. Except for Alexander, everyone wears light color clothes. The only dark clothes and the only speckled dress are turning the circle in the middle of the frame. The sweetness and happiness become more and more intense as they occupy more and more space in the frame. At 02:02:06, it is a low angle shot.
Alexander is planning the next day: he won’t go to the hospital; the unknown neighbor will answer the same song, and he can continue to buy words to finish the poem. As he makes the plan, they walk away from the camera, and the frame changes to a long shot again. After Alexander asks the question that he asked the poet on the bus before: how long will tomorrow last, Anna answers the most romantic and poetic words in this film, ‘eternity and a day’, then disappears.
After Alexander’s mother and daughter are leaving and Anna’s disappearing, Alexander is the only person by the sea. And this is the end of the best day. Thus, it is the third part of the shot. Then he finishes the incomplete poem with the words he buys from the boy. Korphoula mou (my little flower), xenitis(stranger), me, argadini (very late). Alexander puts himself into the poem and he is between strangers and very late. Then he turns back, faces the sea, and repeats the poem again.
The frame here changes to mediums close-up. The waves roll in front of him, emphasizing a lonely back. Then there is an off-screen sound calling ‘Alexander’, which is the same as his mother’s off-screen sound in the first shot. In the first shot of the film, Alexander is a little boy. A friend tells him they will go to an island and dive to see an ancient city. It is the beginning of a boy discovering the vast world and having a wonderful life. With the yelling Alexander behind him, he is like the little boy who is going to begin his life, while now he is going to end his life. In the first shot, a boy says a sentence: time is a child that plays dice on the shore. Correspondingly, now there is an old man that reading poems to the sea.
Besides the camera movement and the frame, the music in this shot is still great. The composer played the theme song "Eternity Theme" on the accordion, using the timbre of traditional folk music, making audiences feel the tragedy of the protagonist and the eternity of the time.
In the world of Angelopoulos’s film, long takes are restrained and direct, calm and peaceful, but also passionate and unrestrained. Each shot is a poem, which is arranged together to form complete and moving poetry. The last shot is especially the representative use of long and slow takes. 7 minutes and 25 seconds describe the extra day of eternity, which is also the best day of eternity. Angelopoulos uses long takes to make audiences feel the true time. Moreover, the last shot is the best take for everyone to feel Angelopoulos’s skill.
References
Angelopoulos, T.(Producer & Director), Heumann, E. (Producer), & Silvagni, G.(Producer) (1998).Mia aioniotita kai mia mera [Motion picture]. Greek: ParadisFilms
Romney, J. (1999, May 17). Eternity and a Day.New Statesman (1996), 128(4436), 36.