The Suspended Step of the Stork

After delivering a speech in Parliament that is more poem than policy, a politician abandons both the Chamber and his home, vanishing without a trace. Reporting from the border on stranded migrants and refugees, a journalist meets a man whose appearance matches the missing politician. Despite inquiries – and even a meeting between the stranger and the politician’s French wife – the man’s identity remains unresolved; she does not recognize him, and he offers no sign either way.

This film serves as the opening of the "Border Trilogy". It features the debuts of Grigoris Patrikareas and Dora Chrysikou. As the filming took place in his metropolis (Florina, Prespes, and Eordaia), the script somehow reached the hands of Metropolitan Augustinos Kantiotis. Believing that what he read was against Christianity and the nation, he threatened Theodoros Angelopoulos with excommunication if he did not immediately cease the film's production. As expected, the entire production crew and the director found this stance outrageous, with the incident sparking international outcry. Beyond left-wing politicians, many famous figures expressed their support for the Greek creator, including Akira Kurosawa. However, upon returning to Florina, they were faced with chaos. At the Metropolitan's urging, a crowd of Christians demonstrated with extreme slogans and fierce intentions against the director. There were even marching bands playing alongside the tolling of church bells. On the day set for the excommunication (which was to include Marcello Mastroianni), a counter-demonstration for freedom seemingly frightened the fanatics; consequently, Kantiotis gave the "sinners" a two-year window to confess. The matter remained unresolved there, though Angelopoulos paid tribute to the incident through a scene in To Vlemma tou Odyssea (Ulysses' Gaze, 1995). Giannis Voglis is the one who dubbed into our language the voice of Marcello Mastroianni. Haris Alexiou performs "Panselinos o Erotas" (Full Moon Love) for the film, a composition by Eleni Karaindrou with lyrics by K.X. Myris. With 190,000 tickets sold, it ranked first among 10 Greek films of the season.

Κριτική: https://dennisschwartzreviews.com/suspendedstep/
Κριτική: https://flix.gr/cinema/the-suspended-step-of-the-stork-review.html
Άρθρο: https://www.lifo.gr/blogs/almanac/ta-epeisodiaka-gyrismata-toy-theodoroy-aggelopoyloy-sti-florina
Άρθρο: https://www.andro.gr/empneusi/the-suspended-step-of-the-stork-new-copies/