Ulysses' Gaze

1995 2h 49m EL

🙌

7.5

BANGER

🥫

27%

ROTTEN

⭐

7.6

IMDB

★7.5TMDB · 133🥫27%Rotten Tomatoes★7.6IMDB · 7,598

DramaHistoryWar

Synopsis

Spoiler shield

An exiled filmmaker finally returns to his home country where former mysteries and afflictions of his early life come back to haunt him once more.

“Some stories are better left unspoiled.”

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Cast

Harvey Keitel
A
Erland Josephson
Ivo Levy
Maia Morgenstern
Ulysses' Wives
Thanasis Veggos
Taxi Driver
Giorgos Mihalakopoulos
Nikos
Dora Volanaki
Old Woman
Mania Papadimitriou
Mother
Giorgos Konstas
Father

Credits

Behind the camera

Director: Theo Angelopoulos
Writers: Theo Angelopoulos, Homer, Tonino Guerra
Languages: Albanian, Bulgarian, English, German, Greek, Kurdish, Macedonian, Romanian, Serbian
Countries: Greece, France, Italy, Germany, United Kingdom, Albania

Want more? Switch to Cinephile mode in the header for DP, composer, budget, box office, production companies, keywords, and release history.

Did you know?

Fun facts 🍿

1 / 8

RUNTIME

Did you know

Clocks in at 169 minutes — on the longer side of feature-length cinema.

MoodPlayr · trivia#01

2 / 8

ERA

Did you know

31 years old — old enough to be someone's favourite childhood film.

MoodPlayr · trivia#02

3 / 8

WORLD

Did you know

Dialogue crosses 9 languages: Albanian, Bulgarian, English, German, Greek, Kurdish, Macedonian, Romanian, Serbian.

MoodPlayr · trivia#03

4 / 8

WORLD

Did you know

International production across 6 countries: Greece, France, Italy, Germany, United Kingdom, Albania.

MoodPlayr · trivia#04

5 / 8

DIRECTOR

Did you know

Directed by Theo Angelopoulos, shot by Giorgos Arvanitis. Note their partnership — DPs and directors often return to each other across a career.

MoodPlayr · trivia#05

6 / 8

DIRECTOR

Did you know

Original score by Eleni Karaindrou. Worth a dedicated listen after — most great films lose half their impact without the score.

MoodPlayr · trivia#06

7 / 8

DIRECTOR

Did you know

Editor Yannis Tsitsopoulos shaped the rhythm. On an edit-heavy film, the editor does more to control your pulse than the director.

MoodPlayr · trivia#07

8 / 8

CAST

Did you know

Harvey Keitel and Erland Josephson and Maia Morgenstern carry the top of the cast.

MoodPlayr · trivia#08

Cinephile deep dive

The take

Theo Angelopoulos directs. Giorgos Arvanitis behind the camera. Eleni Karaindrou scores. Yannis Tsitsopoulos cuts. A long sit — settle in. Produced in Greece, France, Italy, Germany, United Kingdom, Albania. Dialogue in Albanian, Bulgarian, English, German, Greek, Kurdish, Macedonian, Romanian, Serbian.

Trivia

Things worth knowing

1Clocks in at 169 minutes — on the longer side of feature-length cinema.
231 years old — old enough to be someone's favourite childhood film.
3Dialogue crosses 9 languages: Albanian, Bulgarian, English, German, Greek, Kurdish, Macedonian, Romanian, Serbian.
4International production across 6 countries: Greece, France, Italy, Germany, United Kingdom, Albania.
5Directed by Theo Angelopoulos, shot by Giorgos Arvanitis. Note their partnership — DPs and directors often return to each other across a career.
6Original score by Eleni Karaindrou. Worth a dedicated listen after — most great films lose half their impact without the score.
7Editor Yannis Tsitsopoulos shaped the rhythm. On an edit-heavy film, the editor does more to control your pulse than the director.
8Harvey Keitel and Erland Josephson and Maia Morgenstern carry the top of the cast.
9IMDB entry: tt0114863 — still the authoritative cross-reference for credits and trivia.
10Classified under 8 themes, including "affectation", "balkan war", "film director", "dreary".
11Released under 10 different titles around the world.

The technical file

Cinematography: Giorgos Arvanitis
Original score: Eleni Karaindrou
Editing: Yannis Tsitsopoulos
Production design: Dinos Katsouridis
Costume design: Giorgos Ziakas
Makeup / hair: Katerina Moletti
Sound: Kostas Varympopiotis
Runtime: 169 min · 2h 49m
Status: Released
Original language: EL
IMDB: Ulysses' Gaze (1995)
Rotten Tomatoes: 27% 🥫 Rotten
IMDB rating: 7.6/10 · 7,598 votes
MPAA: Unrated
US box office: $42,202

Awards

12 wins & 7 nominations total

European Film Academy Critics Award
Cannes Film Festival Grand Prix

Individual records documented via Wikidata; the summary above may count more.

Also by

Theo Angelopoulos

Trailers & featurettes

Watch the pieces

Community reviews

What people are saying

deepkino2025-10-11
This is a journey film—both internal and external—set across Albania, Romania, Bosnia-Herzegovina, and Greece. The story follows a director on a quest to find the lost film by the Manakis brothers, purported to be Greece's first motion picture. However, his search leads him not to a cinematic treasure, but to the slow death agony of the Balkans themselves. His journey culminates not in discovery, but in depression, pain, and a profound sense of defeat—a feeling powerfully symbolized by the recurring image of a fragmented statue of Lenin.

Production companies