Marina Antunes [Film Festival 02.15.12] animation drama arthouse



Spiros Stathoulopoulos is all about experimentation. His first foray into feature film making resulted in the one-shot thriller PVC-1 (review) but for a follow up Stathoulopoulos has left the frantic, fast pace in the dust and for something completely different.

Gorgeously shot by Stathoulopoulos himself, Meteora tells the story of an illicit affair between an orthodox catholic monk, played by Theo Alexander of True Blood fame, and a nun, Russian actress Tamila Koulieva-Karantinaki, who live in monasteries divided by faith and a huge chasm.


The film screened in competition at Berlinale and by the few reviews currently available, the film is dreadfully slow with little dialogue and sequences which linger on the scenery with animal sounds the only reprieve. This isn't necessarily a bad thing but it marks Stathoulopoulos' film as a festival-only affair and even then, of limited appeal. Regardless, the trailer which, as with the film, mixes live action with beautiful animation, is breathtaking and makes me think I may just be willing to sit through it to experience the visuals and music on the big screen.

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