Episode 11 of renowned filmmaker Chris Marker's mythical masterpiece about…
The Owl's Legacy: Amnesty, or History on the March
- Description
- Reviews
- Citation
- Cataloging
- Transcript
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Western history is said to begin with the Greeks—more specifically, with Herodotus, credited as the first historian. But the ancient Greek conception of history, based on the idea of self-examination, is very different from current conceptions. History in some ways is the interplay between remembering and forgetting—and it always being reconsidered and reimagined.
Located at the intersection of Asia, Europe, and Africa, Greece has long been a pawn in the games played by the great powers of the day, be they French, Russian, British, German, or American.
This episode, primarily featuring director Elia Kazan (with clips from his film America, America) and writer Vassilis Vassilikos, covers the “period of amnesia” in Greek history from the war of independence against the Ottomans to the overthrow of the junta and permanent exile of the king in the 1970s. It is a period filled with absurdities like a Bavarian child-king who spoke no Greek, alongside tragedies, including the Greek Civil War of 1947-1949, the massacre of the Greeks of Asia Minor, and the military coup of the Colonels.
“We should raze the Sorbonne and put Chris Marker in its place.” —Henri Michaux
“The primary pleasure of the series, which is incredibly inspiring, is linked to this great banquet of participants, the sum of knowledge they invoke, but above all to the playful flows the editing establishes between their ideas, constructing a formidable network of meanings, historical and cultural perspectives - a veritable encyclopedia of development." —Le Monde
“Why did we have to wait so long for this electrifyingly intelligent film?” —Le Point
“Thirteen words to uncover an entire civilization and reestablish its considerable influence on our modern societies.” —Les Inrockuptibles
“With erudition, Chris Marker questions in each episode what remains Greek within us.” —Philosophie Magazine
Citation
Main credits
Marker, Chris (film director)
Peck, Bob (narrator)
Other credits
Music, Eleni Karaindrou [and 4 others]; camerapersons, Andreas Sinanos [and 4 others]; editing team, Khadicha Bariha, Nedjma Scialom.
Distributor subjects
Historical Anthropology; Ancient Greece; Chris Marker; France; PhilosophyKeywords
"The Owl's Legacy"; Icarus Films; France; Chris Marker; Ancient Greece; culture; ,doc,art; history; shod
WEBVTT
00:00:00.000 --> 00:00:02.946 align:middle line:90%
[THEME MUSIC]
00:00:02.946 --> 00:00:22.586 align:middle line:90%
00:00:22.586 --> 00:00:26.760 align:middle line:90%
[SPEAKING FRENCH]
00:00:26.760 --> 00:00:29.040 align:middle line:84%
And yet, the first word to
come up in the conversation
00:00:29.040 --> 00:00:30.990 align:middle line:84%
wasn\'t exactly the one
we were anticipating.
00:00:30.990 --> 00:02:34.952 align:middle line:90%
00:02:34.952 --> 00:02:36.410 align:middle line:84%
The problem with
the word \"history\"
00:02:36.410 --> 00:02:39.150 align:middle line:90%
has always puzzled me.
00:02:39.150 --> 00:02:44.210 align:middle line:84%
It is true that our
conception of history
00:02:44.210 --> 00:02:47.150 align:middle line:90%
is derived from the Greeks.
00:02:47.150 --> 00:02:52.290 align:middle line:84%
The word originally
meant merely \"inquiry.\"
00:02:52.290 --> 00:02:56.780 align:middle line:84%
Herodotus used it in
relation to the inquiry
00:02:56.780 --> 00:02:59.600 align:middle line:90%
about human societies.
00:02:59.600 --> 00:03:04.250 align:middle line:84%
It was a word which whose sphere
of activity was much closer
00:03:04.250 --> 00:03:07.190 align:middle line:90%
to our modern anthropology.
00:03:07.190 --> 00:03:09.980 align:middle line:84%
It was only gradually that
history became narrowed down
00:03:09.980 --> 00:03:13.730 align:middle line:84%
to those particular forms of
activity which are essentially
00:03:13.730 --> 00:03:18.710 align:middle line:84%
concerned with power,
with military activity,
00:03:18.710 --> 00:03:23.690 align:middle line:84%
political activity, and
the creation of wealth.
00:03:23.690 --> 00:03:25.110 align:middle line:90%
The Greeks had no history.
00:03:25.110 --> 00:03:28.650 align:middle line:84%
They were not concerned
with the past.
00:03:28.650 --> 00:03:31.980 align:middle line:90%
They talked a form of reason.
00:03:31.980 --> 00:03:35.610 align:middle line:84%
They argued politically as
if there had been no past.
00:03:35.610 --> 00:05:02.186 align:middle line:90%
00:05:02.186 --> 00:05:04.616 align:middle line:90%
[SCREECHING]
00:05:04.616 --> 00:05:08.990 align:middle line:90%
00:05:08.990 --> 00:05:12.530 align:middle line:84%
The mindlessness of power
sometimes creates a memory
00:05:12.530 --> 00:05:15.470 align:middle line:84%
from what was meant
to be amnesia.
00:05:15.470 --> 00:05:19.470 align:middle line:84%
Those who in 1963 triggered the
assassination of the left wing
00:05:19.470 --> 00:05:21.620 align:middle line:84%
representative
Lambrakis ended up
00:05:21.620 --> 00:05:24.632 align:middle line:84%
making him into a legend, a
new name in the long procession
00:05:24.632 --> 00:05:26.840 align:middle line:84%
of heroes that has marked
the whole history of Greece
00:05:26.840 --> 00:05:28.490 align:middle line:90%
since the Dark Age.
00:05:28.490 --> 00:05:32.390 align:middle line:84%
The people brand that legend
with the letter Zed for z,
00:05:32.390 --> 00:05:34.400 align:middle line:90%
he lives.
00:05:34.400 --> 00:05:37.610 align:middle line:84%
And that letter used in all
the demonstrations of the time
00:05:37.610 --> 00:05:40.550 align:middle line:84%
and used again as the title
of a celebrated film adapted
00:05:40.550 --> 00:05:43.250 align:middle line:84%
from a novel by
Vassilikos will probably
00:05:43.250 --> 00:05:45.680 align:middle line:84%
make this the only
world renowned episode
00:05:45.680 --> 00:05:47.150 align:middle line:90%
of contemporary Greek history.
00:05:47.150 --> 00:05:51.450 align:middle line:90%
00:05:51.450 --> 00:05:59.659 align:middle line:84%
In origin, the Greeks emerged
from a Dark Age, an age
00:05:59.659 --> 00:06:01.200 align:middle line:84%
on the other side
of which they could
00:06:01.200 --> 00:06:05.250 align:middle line:90%
see the gods and the heroes.
00:06:05.250 --> 00:06:08.400 align:middle line:84%
These heroes had
actually existed,
00:06:08.400 --> 00:06:10.380 align:middle line:84%
and they believed
they had existed.
00:06:10.380 --> 00:06:12.121 align:middle line:90%
The had lived in great palaces.
00:06:12.121 --> 00:06:13.870 align:middle line:84%
They had lived a
completely different life
00:06:13.870 --> 00:06:18.540 align:middle line:84%
from the sort of world
which early Greeks knew.
00:06:18.540 --> 00:06:23.190 align:middle line:84%
They remembered them dimly,
but they knew they were real.
00:06:23.190 --> 00:06:24.630 align:middle line:84%
And from time to
time, they tried
00:06:24.630 --> 00:06:28.920 align:middle line:84%
to recreate this
world of the gods.
00:06:28.920 --> 00:06:33.480 align:middle line:84%
They had this sense
of a distant past,
00:06:33.480 --> 00:06:39.310 align:middle line:84%
but one which they could
not really understand,
00:06:39.310 --> 00:06:41.570 align:middle line:90%
comprehend any longer.
00:06:41.570 --> 00:06:45.960 align:middle line:84%
And they emerged into a world,
a world dominated by the sea.
00:06:45.960 --> 00:06:50.080 align:middle line:84%
In which there were the
other side of the waters
00:06:50.080 --> 00:06:54.450 align:middle line:84%
these great civilizations
of Egypt and Mesopotamia.
00:06:54.450 --> 00:07:01.320 align:middle line:84%
The confrontation that emerged
between the oriental despotisms
00:07:01.320 --> 00:07:06.930 align:middle line:84%
of the Mesopotamian world
and the small cities
00:07:06.930 --> 00:07:11.100 align:middle line:84%
of the Mediterranean became,
in a sense, the prototype
00:07:11.100 --> 00:07:16.700 align:middle line:84%
of all subsequent conflicts
in Western culture,
00:07:16.700 --> 00:07:21.290 align:middle line:84%
the conflict between
despotism and freedom,
00:07:21.290 --> 00:07:23.730 align:middle line:84%
the conflict between
East and West.
00:07:23.730 --> 00:07:29.300 align:middle line:84%
This is some mythic
structure which we have never
00:07:29.300 --> 00:07:30.700 align:middle line:90%
been able to escape from.
00:07:30.700 --> 00:08:05.390 align:middle line:90%
00:08:05.390 --> 00:08:08.550 align:middle line:84%
People usually refer
to their native land,
00:08:08.550 --> 00:08:11.330 align:middle line:84%
listening to the Greeks
going on about Aegean,
00:08:11.330 --> 00:08:13.465 align:middle line:84%
one wonders if they\'re
aren\'t native seas.
00:08:13.465 --> 00:12:44.070 align:middle line:90%
00:12:44.070 --> 00:12:45.870 align:middle line:90%
As recounted in history.
00:12:45.870 --> 00:12:47.430 align:middle line:84%
But here to introduce
a flashback,
00:12:47.430 --> 00:12:51.210 align:middle line:90%
let\'s call in a filmmaker.
00:12:51.210 --> 00:12:53.800 align:middle line:84%
In 1912, a thing of great
significance happened
00:12:53.800 --> 00:12:56.170 align:middle line:84%
in England, which was
the English government
00:12:56.170 --> 00:12:59.650 align:middle line:84%
decided that all their warships
from then on would burn oil.
00:12:59.650 --> 00:13:01.690 align:middle line:84%
And that changed
the requirements
00:13:01.690 --> 00:13:05.080 align:middle line:84%
of the British
government from the coal,
00:13:05.080 --> 00:13:07.810 align:middle line:84%
which was in abundant
supply in England itself,
00:13:07.810 --> 00:13:10.180 align:middle line:84%
to the necessity of getting
oil from the Near East.
00:13:10.180 --> 00:13:12.670 align:middle line:84%
And that meant they wanted
a friendly power, one
00:13:12.670 --> 00:13:13.990 align:middle line:90%
they could control.
00:13:13.990 --> 00:13:16.180 align:middle line:84%
When you say friendly
about those people,
00:13:16.180 --> 00:13:19.690 align:middle line:84%
you mean one that the
great powers could control.
00:13:19.690 --> 00:13:22.270 align:middle line:84%
And they wanted that
on the literale,
00:13:22.270 --> 00:13:24.590 align:middle line:90%
the Aegean literal there.
00:13:24.590 --> 00:13:30.970 align:middle line:84%
So then happened a terrible
three years of warfare
00:13:30.970 --> 00:13:35.260 align:middle line:84%
in which Greek boys were killed
in the hundreds of thousands
00:13:35.260 --> 00:13:38.410 align:middle line:84%
and Greece was drained of
its supplies and demoralized.
00:13:38.410 --> 00:13:42.520 align:middle line:84%
And finally, the Turks hit
back and took the country.
00:13:42.520 --> 00:13:45.540 align:middle line:84%
And in effect, the Greeks
were driven into the sea.
00:13:45.540 --> 00:13:48.310 align:middle line:84%
Not only in effect,
but into the sea.
00:13:48.310 --> 00:13:51.160 align:middle line:84%
And the people that were
most tragically hurt
00:13:51.160 --> 00:13:53.380 align:middle line:84%
were the Greek
residents, our people,
00:13:53.380 --> 00:13:58.270 align:middle line:84%
the Anatolian Greeks who were
forced to leave their homes
00:13:58.270 --> 00:14:01.780 align:middle line:90%
and to find new homes.
00:14:01.780 --> 00:14:03.260 align:middle line:90%
Many of them were killed.
00:14:03.260 --> 00:14:05.830 align:middle line:84%
Many were driven
literally into the sea.
00:14:05.830 --> 00:14:08.780 align:middle line:84%
And it was what the Greeks
now call it a catastrophe.
00:14:08.780 --> 00:14:12.670 align:middle line:84%
It was a great,
great catastrophe.
00:14:12.670 --> 00:14:19.760 align:middle line:84%
My people, my father
had left Turkey in 1913.
00:14:19.760 --> 00:14:23.660 align:middle line:84%
And he was that clever
or anticipated that,
00:14:23.660 --> 00:14:25.070 align:middle line:90%
or he was lucky.
00:14:25.070 --> 00:14:28.310 align:middle line:84%
And he first went to
Germany because Germany
00:14:28.310 --> 00:14:32.420 align:middle line:90%
was a power then, great power.
00:14:32.420 --> 00:14:34.146 align:middle line:90%
And then he went to America.
00:14:34.146 --> 00:14:37.122 align:middle line:90%
[GREEK MUSIC PLAYING]
00:14:37.122 --> 00:14:41.090 align:middle line:90%
00:14:41.090 --> 00:14:43.570 align:middle line:84%
Mr. [? Agnostis, ?]
what\'s that over there?
00:14:43.570 --> 00:14:46.546 align:middle line:90%
Is that land?
00:14:46.546 --> 00:14:49.026 align:middle line:90%
[NON-ENGLISH]
00:14:49.026 --> 00:14:56.466 align:middle line:90%
00:14:56.466 --> 00:14:58.946 align:middle line:90%
[CROWD CHATTERING]
00:14:58.946 --> 00:15:01.922 align:middle line:90%
00:15:01.922 --> 00:15:03.410 align:middle line:90%
[INAUDIBLE] America.
00:15:03.410 --> 00:15:06.400 align:middle line:90%
00:15:06.400 --> 00:15:08.630 align:middle line:84%
The Anatolian Greeks were
successful in America,
00:15:08.630 --> 00:15:13.850 align:middle line:84%
because we are a clever,
energetic, resourceful,
00:15:13.850 --> 00:15:19.760 align:middle line:90%
stubborn, resilient, rebounding.
00:15:19.760 --> 00:15:21.500 align:middle line:90%
You can\'t beat them.
00:15:21.500 --> 00:15:24.429 align:middle line:84%
You put them down, they come
up again in a different place.
00:15:24.429 --> 00:15:25.970 align:middle line:84%
They don\'t come up
in the same place.
00:15:25.970 --> 00:15:28.254 align:middle line:84%
You throw them out
of one building,
00:15:28.254 --> 00:15:29.420 align:middle line:90%
they come up in another one.
00:15:29.420 --> 00:15:30.800 align:middle line:90%
They\'re like animals.
00:15:30.800 --> 00:15:32.870 align:middle line:84%
And they\'re very clever
and they\'re hard working.
00:15:32.870 --> 00:15:34.210 align:middle line:90%
God, they\'re hardworking.
00:15:34.210 --> 00:15:36.050 align:middle line:84%
They\'re like the
Koreans in New York City
00:15:36.050 --> 00:15:38.250 align:middle line:90%
now who are very hard working.
00:15:38.250 --> 00:15:41.353 align:middle line:84%
The two are similar and
they\'re also successful.
00:15:41.353 --> 00:15:42.772 align:middle line:90%
[BUZZING]
00:15:42.772 --> 00:15:44.670 align:middle line:90%
Mr. Kazan, flashback please.
00:15:44.670 --> 00:15:47.570 align:middle line:84%
For we left off the
story of the great powers
00:15:47.570 --> 00:15:49.670 align:middle line:84%
as the Greeks were being
driven into the sea.
00:15:49.670 --> 00:15:51.590 align:middle line:84%
Well, they naturally
said if the Greeks
00:15:51.590 --> 00:15:54.710 align:middle line:84%
can\'t take charge of this, we\'ll
make friends with the Turks.
00:15:54.710 --> 00:15:58.460 align:middle line:84%
And long before the
catastrophe itself,
00:15:58.460 --> 00:16:00.140 align:middle line:84%
the French were
dealing with the Turks.
00:16:00.140 --> 00:16:02.900 align:middle line:84%
The Italians were
dealing with the Turks.
00:16:02.900 --> 00:16:11.540 align:middle line:84%
And the English soon, with
a great surge of apology,
00:16:11.540 --> 00:16:14.280 align:middle line:84%
told the Greeks,
this is unfortunate,
00:16:14.280 --> 00:16:16.490 align:middle line:84%
but we have to
reconsider our position.
00:16:16.490 --> 00:16:19.140 align:middle line:84%
They were doing-- they\'ve done
that frequently in history,
00:16:19.140 --> 00:16:20.490 align:middle line:90%
reconsider their position.
00:16:20.490 --> 00:16:23.390 align:middle line:84%
And they reconsidered
their position.
00:16:23.390 --> 00:16:26.550 align:middle line:90%
And they dealt with the Turks.
00:16:26.550 --> 00:16:28.710 align:middle line:84%
And they say, it\'s too
bad about you fellas.
00:16:28.710 --> 00:16:30.981 align:middle line:84%
Now go on home and
do what you can.
00:16:30.981 --> 00:16:31.480 align:middle line:90%
That was is.
00:16:31.480 --> 00:18:49.200 align:middle line:90%
00:18:49.200 --> 00:18:51.810 align:middle line:84%
With the end of the war and the
formation of another coalition
00:18:51.810 --> 00:18:54.480 align:middle line:84%
government in 1949,
peace and stability
00:18:54.480 --> 00:18:56.060 align:middle line:90%
were apparently restored.
00:18:56.060 --> 00:18:58.290 align:middle line:84%
The young Prince
Constantine himself
00:18:58.290 --> 00:19:00.420 align:middle line:84%
could enjoy sailing
in the carefree days
00:19:00.420 --> 00:19:02.520 align:middle line:90%
before he came to his throne.
00:19:02.520 --> 00:19:05.010 align:middle line:84%
He took part in
the Olympic games,
00:19:05.010 --> 00:19:07.680 align:middle line:90%
and his future seemed assured.
00:19:07.680 --> 00:19:10.395 align:middle line:84%
The liberal Papandreou
became prime minister.
00:19:10.395 --> 00:19:12.420 align:middle line:84%
But Papandreou soon
found his policies
00:19:12.420 --> 00:19:15.570 align:middle line:84%
blocked by a right wing
faction in the Army.
00:19:15.570 --> 00:19:18.030 align:middle line:84%
Papandreou wanted to
purge the officer corps,
00:19:18.030 --> 00:19:20.436 align:middle line:90%
but Constantine refused.
00:19:20.436 --> 00:19:22.876 align:middle line:90%
[CROWD CHEERING]
00:19:22.876 --> 00:19:23.860 align:middle line:90%
00:19:23.860 --> 00:19:27.430 align:middle line:90%
In 1965, Papandreou resigned.
00:19:27.430 --> 00:19:30.040 align:middle line:84%
Once again, politicians
could not agree.
00:19:30.040 --> 00:19:33.670 align:middle line:84%
Two restless years followed,
demonstrations in the streets,
00:19:33.670 --> 00:19:37.960 align:middle line:84%
anger at the lack of leadership,
the growing politics of chaos.
00:19:37.960 --> 00:19:40.280 align:middle line:84%
Faction fights broke
up the parliament.
00:19:40.280 --> 00:21:22.140 align:middle line:90%
00:21:22.140 --> 00:21:23.960 align:middle line:84%
To a casual visitor,
it would seem
00:21:23.960 --> 00:21:26.950 align:middle line:84%
that the American gamble
in Greece has paid off.
00:21:26.950 --> 00:21:29.810 align:middle line:84%
The tourists who shied away for
a year or two after the coup
00:21:29.810 --> 00:21:32.060 align:middle line:90%
are now back in force.
00:21:32.060 --> 00:21:34.220 align:middle line:84%
300,000 are expected
from Britain
00:21:34.220 --> 00:21:36.980 align:middle line:90%
alone before the season is over.
00:21:36.980 --> 00:21:40.250 align:middle line:84%
On a sunny day on the Acropolis,
all those propaganda stories
00:21:40.250 --> 00:21:43.490 align:middle line:84%
about Greece being a
dictatorship or a police state
00:21:43.490 --> 00:21:46.130 align:middle line:84%
sound like total nonsense
to the foreigners,
00:21:46.130 --> 00:21:48.270 align:middle line:84%
who are really more
interested in taking pictures
00:21:48.270 --> 00:21:49.850 align:middle line:90%
than thinking politics anyway.
00:21:49.850 --> 00:21:53.160 align:middle line:90%
00:21:53.160 --> 00:21:55.800 align:middle line:84%
The destruction of democracy
and its replacement
00:21:55.800 --> 00:21:58.470 align:middle line:84%
by a military dictatorship
has happened in a way
00:21:58.470 --> 00:22:00.375 align:middle line:84%
that few tourists
may even notice.
00:22:00.375 --> 00:22:05.090 align:middle line:90%
00:22:05.090 --> 00:22:07.430 align:middle line:84%
At military parades
like this one
00:22:07.430 --> 00:22:10.580 align:middle line:84%
marking the 150th anniversary
of Greece\'s independence
00:22:10.580 --> 00:22:14.910 align:middle line:84%
from the Turks, the regime
shows a tough face to the world.
00:22:14.910 --> 00:22:17.180 align:middle line:84%
It\'s an excuse to show
off all the latest
00:22:17.180 --> 00:22:21.500 align:middle line:84%
military hardware, much of it
generously provided by America.
00:22:21.500 --> 00:23:31.500 align:middle line:90%
00:23:31.500 --> 00:23:34.300 align:middle line:90%
I decided to act.
00:23:34.300 --> 00:23:37.440 align:middle line:90%
I did not succeed.
00:23:37.440 --> 00:23:41.130 align:middle line:84%
But it remains my
duty and purpose
00:23:41.130 --> 00:23:44.580 align:middle line:84%
to restore Parliamentary
rule to Greece.
00:23:44.580 --> 00:24:09.240 align:middle line:90%
00:24:09.240 --> 00:24:11.430 align:middle line:84%
I\'m going to go
back to my country,
00:24:11.430 --> 00:24:13.830 align:middle line:84%
and I will be King of
Hellenes and continue
00:24:13.830 --> 00:24:17.610 align:middle line:84%
to be until the Greek
people decide otherwise.
00:24:17.610 --> 00:24:19.740 align:middle line:84%
And that\'s exactly what
the Greek people did,
00:24:19.740 --> 00:24:21.600 align:middle line:90%
they decided otherwise.
00:24:21.600 --> 00:24:24.150 align:middle line:84%
Marius [? Pleuritus, ?] the
host at our Athenian banquet,
00:24:24.150 --> 00:24:26.460 align:middle line:84%
appeared on TV to say that
the king who had referred
00:24:26.460 --> 00:24:29.790 align:middle line:84%
to the tombs of his ancestors
would have done better not
00:24:29.790 --> 00:24:32.430 align:middle line:90%
to speak about tombs at all.
00:24:32.430 --> 00:24:34.440 align:middle line:84%
For the first time in
centuries, the German
00:24:34.440 --> 00:24:37.890 align:middle line:84%
built temples of imaginary
Greece watched over a people
00:24:37.890 --> 00:24:42.450 align:middle line:84%
without a king and of
an unoccupied country.
00:24:42.450 --> 00:24:44.370 align:middle line:84%
So the pale shadow
of little King Othon
00:24:44.370 --> 00:24:47.300 align:middle line:90%
and his Bavarian Greece faded.
00:24:47.300 --> 00:24:51.300 align:middle line:84%
And a 200 year amnesia
finally came to an end.
00:24:51.300 --> 00:24:57.300 align:middle line:90%
00:24:57.300 --> 00:25:00.350 align:middle line:90%
[MUSIC PLAYING]
00:25:00.350 --> 00:26:11.051 align:middle line:90%
Distributor: Icarus Films
Length: 26 minutes
Date: 1989
Genre: Expository
Language: French; German; English
Closed Captioning: Available
Interactive Transcript: Available
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