Thief or Reality: Three days in one
There are a number of observations to be made when watching the film work of Antoinetta Angelidi: the beautiful artistry of scenes, the poetic and philosophical thinking, the ritual atmosphere and the dream-like, symbolic lives of the characters. The director is inspired and seduced by her own tensions, nightmares, thoughts, demons, ghosts and minor daily troubles, as well as by greater existential questions. And then, she has the courage and discipline to gather together all this material, ultimately organizing it into dense, well-structured scenes, which are exemplarily balanced. Over the last 25 years, Angelidi has daringly defended this cinematic language with all its direct references to European painting, as if she is the curator of a private, imaginary, art gallery from which she draws her ideas. In her third full-length feature film, titled «Thief or Reality,» she tries to develop a suggestive narrative. During the course of one day (Good Friday), three characters offer three different interpretations of the same day, three different versions of reality. A sculptor works on a tomb, a mother loses her child, an actor rehearses for a production of Sophocles’ «Antigone.» The film is therefore divided into three interwoven parts: a net (representing fate), the dice (luck) and will. Imposing, dark, sometimes oppressive and sometimes redeeming, the director’s new film, with photography by Ilias Constandakopoulos, is defined by a strong sense of religion and feeling of guilt. It is a place inhabited by spirits, accompanied by poetic narrative, where expression is channeled through electronic sounds. Though an enriching artistic experience, «Thief or Reality» presents a cinematographic form which is static, trapped in its own design and narrow artistic beauty. Y tu Mama Tambien
