This book explores the development of post-1945 Greek cinema focusing on the work of some of its most influential and internationally known film-makers. After examining the foundational historical and stylistic questions of Greek cinematic tradition, it discusses the work of Michael Cacoyannis, the first director who brought Greek cinema to international repute with his famous films Stella, Electra, Zorba the Greek amongst others. After him, the book presents for the first time in English the seminal work of Nikos Koundouros probably the most innovative and versatile film-maker of the country. Together with them, Yannis Dalialidis was the most commercially successful and prolific director of the Golden Age of Greek cinema during the sixties. His underestimated work is discussed with special emphasis on films made between 1965 and 1975. Any discussion of Greek cinema would have been incomplete without mentioning the work of its most celebrated auteur Theo Angelopoulos. The analysis gives foregrounds his use of colour, mise-en-scene and continuity from his early political films to his later incomplete projects. After him, the book explores the diversity of cinematic styles that thrived in the country especially during the seventies. The work of Antouanetta Angelidi gives the opportunity to study women's cinema and the local tradition of experimental or poetic film-makers. Finally, the book explores contemporary Greek film-makers, in an era when the Greek society is experiencing one of its greatest crises.

The history of Greek cinema post-1945 is best understood through the stories of its most internationally celebrated and influential directors. Focusing on the works of six major filmmakers active from just after WWII to the present day, with added consideration of many others, this book examines the development of cinema as an art form in the social and political contexts of Greece. Insights on gender in film, minority cinemas, stylistic richness and the representation of historical trauma are afforded by close readings of the work and life of such luminaries as Michael Cacoyannis, Nikos Koundouros, Yannis Dalianidis, Theo Angelopoulos, Antouanetta Angelidi, Yorgos Lanthimos, Athena-Rachel Tsangari and Costas Zapas. Throughout, the book examines how directors visually transmute reality to represent unstable societies, disrupted collective memories and national identity.

The history of Greek cinema post-1945 is best understood through the stories of its most internationally celebrated and influential directors. Focusing on the works of six major filmmakers active from just after WWII to the present day, with added consideration of many others, this book examines the development of cinema as an art form in the social and political contexts of Greece. Insights on gender in film, minority cinemas, stylistic richness and the representation of historical trauma are afforded by close readings of the work and life of such luminaries as Michael Cacoyannis, Nikos Koundouros, Yannis Dalianidis, Theo Angelopoulos, Antouanetta Angelidi, Yorgos Lanthimos, Athena-Rachel Tsangari and Costas Zapas. Throughout, the book examines how directors visually transmute reality to represent unstable societies, disrupted collective memories and national identity.

The book is a detailed historical survey of Greek cinema from its very beginning (1905) until today (2010).

Beginning with his first film Reconstruction, released in 1970, Theo Angelopoulos’s notoriously complex cinematic language has long explored Greece’s contemporary history and questioned European culture and society. The Cinematic Language of Theo Angelopoulos offers a detailed study and critical discussion of the acclaimed filmmaker’s cinematic aesthetics as they developed over his career, exploring different styles through which Greek and European history, identity, and loss have been visually articulated throughout his oeuvre, as well as his impact on both European and global cinema.

The book is a detailed historical survey of Greek cinema from its very beginning (1905) until today (2010).