This is not at all a film for admirers of Hollywood

Olo to varos tou kosmou (2004) directed by Thanos Anastopoulos

For his first film "Thanos Anastopoulos" has chosen a very difficult theme. In his film "All the weight of the world", he chose to portray the meaning of life. For viewers not used to films where there is no proper beginning, middle and end, this film would not make much sense. This film would not make any sense at all even when these viewers try to see it for the second time. Of course, it is a different story that such people would not see it twice because there are high chances that they might dislike this film during its first viewing. So if a film is disliked by viewers at the time of its first screening, one can deduce that it would be detrimental because not only the viewers would continue to ignore the same film but they would also not recommend such a soporific film to other viewers. According to what I have understood, "Olo to varos tou kosmou", is a film without a regular plot or a storyline. I had no trouble in capturing the fact that it is an occult tale of 11 confused denizens of a small Greek city. Much of the film's sadness comes from its characters. In this film, there is a sad looking old philosophy professor who burns all his books stating that his entire life has been a waste. According to him the real wisdom can be found in life but never in books. There is a loving couple too unsure of their love for each other. Now something for universal admirers of technical issues related to a film. "All the weight of the world" was shot on digital DV and later blown into a 35 mm print. This has not hampered the visual beauty in any manner. What about the question mark style adopted by Anastopoulos ? This should not come as a surprise to anyone as Anastopoulos learnt the tricks of the trade from the "one many army" of World Cinema : Monsieur Theodoros Angelopoulos. He chose young Thanos as his assistant on "The Beekeeper" (1986). Lastly, "All the weight of the world" was revealed to the world after it premiered at the prestigious Rotterdam International Film Festival 2004.