Following the wedding of his daughter, stone-faced beekeeper Spyros makes an annual journey from the north of Greece to the south, traveling along with his hives. En route, he meets an erratic, young female drifter, with whom he strikes up an unusual, self-destructive relationship.
Direction
Angelopoulos's legendary long takes—time itself becomes a character.
Acting
Mastroianni's wordless devastation, one of cinema's greatest faces.
Cinematography
Fog-shrouded Greek landscapes that breathe alienation.
Director
Theo Angelopoulos
Marcello Mastroianni
Spyros
Nadia Mourouzi
The Girl
Serge Reggiani
Sick Man
Jenny Roussea
Anna
Dinos Iliopoulos
Spyros' Friend
Vasia Panagopoulou
Spyros' Youngest Daughter
Stamatis Gardelis
Mihalis Giannatos
Karyofyllia Karabeti
Spyros' Eldest Daughter
Konstantinos Konstantopoulos
Stefanos
Nikos Kouros
Spyros' Friend
Christoforos Nezer
Stratos Pahis
Dimitris Poulikakos
Eldest Daughter's Husband
Trivia, insights & behind the scenes
Part of Angelopoulos's 'Trilogy of Silence,' the film uses beekeeping as metaphor for Greece's dying rural traditions under modernity's crush.
Mastroianni learned basic beekeeping and performed many scenes with live hives; Angelopoulos refused to use doubles for the dangerous close work.
GR
