The movie is fiercely austere; no human emotion leaks out and the characters are as blank as chess-pieces.

The Weeping Meadow doesn't offer quite enough sugar for its harsh medicine to go down easily.

It's a typically poetic film, rich in powerful imagery, which sees a bitter personal tragedy unfold against the major events of 20th century Greece.

There's a lot to be said for beauty, and The Weeping Meadow, shot by Angelopoulos regular Andreas Sinanos, is undeniably beautiful. That said, it's a rather ugly kind of beauty, like the indelible image of a tree bedecked with the bodies of slain sheep.