The Travelling Players

Along with the films Meres tou ’36 (Days of '36, 1972) and Oi Kynigoi (The Hunters, 1977), the movie belongs to the "Trilogy of History". Filming began in 1973, in the midst of the dictatorship, with the creator claiming he was directing a version of the "Oresteia" set in World War II to avoid censorship. For security reasons, the actors did not have a script in their hands. Crew members who were at the Polytechnic during the 1973 uprising never returned to the set. The production traveled to Karditsa, Aegio, Ioannina, Messolonghi, Zagorochoria, Nafplio, Amfissa, Lefkada, Kifisia, and Xanthi. The four-hour duration of the film consists of just 80 takes. At the first screening for critics at the Finos Film studios, the reactions were negative, even from Angelopoulos's friend, Vasilis Rafailidis. At the Thessaloniki Film Festival, however, it caused the largest crowd in the history of the institution. The conservative Karamanlis government blocked its official participation in the Cannes Film Festival, considering the work's perspective to be excessively leftist. The film was screened at the 1975 Cannes International Film Festival unofficially. O Thiasos (The Travelling Players, 1975) brought international recognition to Angelopoulos and is now considered one of the greatest masterpieces of cinema. The songs feature the voices of Dimitris Kamberidis, Ioanna Kiourtsoglou, Kostas Messaris, and Nena Menti. With 189,620 tickets, the film ranked 2nd among 38 productions of the season.