The Films of Gregory J. Markopoulos: Program 1

The Films of Gregory J. Markopoulos: Program 1

Gregory J. Markopoulos, Bliss, 1967, 6 min
Gregory J. Markopoulos, Gammelion, 1967, 54 min
Introduced by Mark Webber

The first film Markopoulos made after relocating to Europe, Bliss depicts a small church on the Greek island of Hydra. The elegantly spare Gammelion was filmed in and around the castle of Roccasinibalda in Italy. It is “structured by a thousand slow fades in and out of black-and-white leader … On the soundtrack there are snatches of Roussel, the sound of horses’ hooves over pavement, and the voice of the filmmaker reading Rilke’s lines: ‘To be loved means to be consumed. To love means to radiate with inexhaustible light. To be loved is to pass away, to love is to endure’” (P. Adams Sitney).