About

The dictatorship is embodied in the formal structure of the film. Imposed silence was one of the conditions under which we worked. The film is… made in such a way that the spectator realizes that censorship is involved.

Days of '36 is a political thriller that unfolds after a Conservative Member of Parliament is taken hostage at a prison. Based on real events, it begins with the murder of a trade unionist at a public rally and the imprisonment of a former police informant. Proclaiming his innocence, Sofianos is visited by a government official (and former lover) who he takes hostage in an attempt to secure his release. The event sparks a crisis for the authorities and their indecision with how best to deal with the situation reflects a sense of political uncertainty: if the government gives into Sofianos's demands, it faces losing the support of the ruling Democratic Party, while the Conservatives threaten to vote against the government if he is not immediately released. Set on the eve of General Ioannis Metaxas's dictatorship of Greece from 1936 and made midway through the country's military junta from 1967–74 , Angelopoulos's film is a critique of repressive attitudes, accusing both past and incumbent dictators of the same violent enforcement of social order.

Ages 18+