It's hard to see any effort in the film. There's no comedy to speak of, no real drama and, worst of all.

It is not only a funny movie, but it allows a great amount of joy for anyone who watches it.

It’s sentimental, ridiculously long and only occasionally funny

Great example of an old-fashioned, pure-at-heart escapist event movie that doesn't pretend to be anything that it's not and has boat loads of fun being its own ludicrous self.

Greek screenwriter, producer and director Theodoros Angelopoulos' twelfth feature film is a Germany-France-Greece-Italy co-production and the first part of a trilogy about the history of Greece, which tells a story set in Northern Greece 1919 where a group of Greek refugees from the Russian harbour Odessa arrives at a place near Thessaloniki. Amongst them is five-year-old Alexis and three-year-old Eleni. Eleni is an orphaned girl who has been raised by Alexis' family, and since childhood they have developed strong bonds to each other. Thirteen years later Eleni gives birth to two twin brothers which she gives away for adoption. Eleni is promised to Alexis' father Spyros, but on the day of her wedding she escapes with Alexis. "The Weeping Meadow" opens with a stellar scene where the viewers are introduced to the main characters. It is told through an emphatic narrative structure and filmed with long takes, diverse perspectives and unusually calm camera movements. Greek filmmaker Theodoros Angelopoulos' subtle filming visualizes his affection for images of people, animals and objects reflected in water. The humane and engaging screenplay with minimal use of dialog written by Theodoros Angelopoulos and screenwriters Tonino Guerra, Petros Markaris and Giorgio Silvagni, tells a story which spans over 30 years and examines themes such as love, grief, immigration, fellowship, melancholy, music, war and hope. The old and accurate costume design and the naturalistic milieu depictions reflects the era it portrays with great conviction in this European art film which contains hauntingly beautiful cinematography by cinematographer Andreas Sinanos, reverent acting performances by the actors who personifies the central characters and scenes of such poetic intensity that it touches one's soul. Watching a Theodoros Angelopoulos film for the first time was reminiscent of the first time watching a film by Andrei Tarkovsky, Andrey Zvyagintsev, Krzysztof Kieslowski and Alexandr Sokurov. His significant individual expression and style of filmmaking aligns him with historic filmmakers like Ingmar Bergman, Federico Fellini and Michelangelo Antonioni. Most of the acting is interpreted in a low-keyed and internal way which strengthens the effect of the climactic emotional scenes in this quiet and unforgettable movie experience which is filled with an elegiac and longing atmosphere which is increased by composer Eleni Karaindrou's melodic instrumental score. A lyrical artwork directed by a sharp minded visionary.

This film is good, and very moving, but extremely tedious. Almost every single shot in the film is set up exactly the same; master shot, maybe some movement, maybe not, and then the camera stops for a few seconds and begins to slowly zoom in turning a long shot into a medium long/medium shot, that's basically every single shot, no variety, no change. It's such a beautiful film it's a shame that the director and cinematographer chose to shoot every scene the same because this just heaps on tedium, why would I want to see the same set-up over, and over. When shooting a film like this, a minimalist tragedy, you have to have a perfect eye for composition (like Tarr's Satantango, or Hou's The Puppetmaster) because it's very easy for your film to become boring just from the way you shoot it. You can set-up shots in a similar manner (Hou very often shoots through doors, and across balconies, etc...), but not every shot should have the same formula.The other problem with this film is Alexandra Aidini. Her performance is awful. She always seems over-emotional, and none of her reactions seem realistic. She always seems overly morose, and has not the range for the role she was cast in.I was really ready to love this film, and did for the first 1 1/2 (approx.), but I just became bored after a while. It's not that I'm not use to films like this, I love the minimalist films of (the aforementioned) Tarr, Hou, and Tsai Ming-liang, Jia Zhang-ke, Bresson, etc... but their films (sans one, or two) never seem repetitive, unfortunately this film does. Still a good film, though.

Undoubtedly, Angelopoulos is one of the great artists in European cinema. He seeks to capture the whole history of his nation and of his people on a cinematic canvas with a lyrical and painterly approach. Undoubtedly, Angelopoulos's films are also a shock to anyone accustomed to the pace of modern American cinema. It feels like he's re-inventing cinema. There are graceful panning and tracking shots over beautifully realised tableaux. Shots that run for several minutes. There are no close-ups. It often feels like Angelopoulos has eschewed narrative, and is telling a story with just two tools: images and music.The Weeping Meadow begins as a group of refugees tell the story of their expulsion from Odessa to Thessaloniki in 1919, by the shore of a river. It ends with a mother grieving over the body of her son by the same river, probably in 1949. In between there's little real narrative, just haunting shots of villages and cities, and groups of people running back and forth, and music. Often it feels like sepia historic photographs have been brought subtly to life.The film is a breathtaking antidote to much of what passes for international cinema today. It also became, for me, harder and harder to take, as it became increasingly obvious that the characters are not really characters in a drama, but metaphors in a great historical process. By the end, for me, it felt dis-satisfyingly schematic, and yet there are images that will haunt you for years, and a feeling that Angelopoulos has found a way to distill the fraught years of European history from the First World War to the Cold War into an extraordinary cinematic vision.The music of Eleni Karaindrou is very beautiful, and will resonate long after the film has finished. In many ways, the music really is the soul of this film. The cinematography of Andreas Sinanos is elegant and beautifully lit.

I think anyone familiar with Angelopoulos knows what to expect with his films: long, drawn out, meticulously planned shots that slowly scan environments, with the image composed of not only the foreground but hundreds of yards into the background. I guess some are not impressed with the director's style, but that really astounds me. I definitely see the man as a master of his medium, and The Weeping Meadow is as good as any of his other films – every one I've seen so far is a masterpiece or close to it. This film has a lot in common with the director's first big success, The Traveling Players. It follows a little girl, Eleni, from 1919 to the time of the Greek Civil War, at the end of WWII. And, as the title implies, it's a great tragedy. There is a lot of weeping. It may be long and slow, but it's always gripping. Angelopoulos' imagery is second to none in modern cinema. There are just so many jaw-dropping sequences. My favorite was the one where the camera explored its way through a maze of bed sheets drying on clotheslines, discovering various musicians hidden within. It's not a complaint, per se, but if you're going to watch the film beware of its chronological ellipses. The film can skip ahead years in just a second, when the pace usually makes each second feel like years (in a good way!). I hope New Yorker video, or some other company, digs up the Angelopoulos films that have been unavailable so far, and puts The Traveling Players on DVD, as well.