Topos

In contrast to the titles of Angelidi’s other films, Topos is simply one word, it suggests in the most general way possible, ‘spaces’. Which is, in fact, what we see throughout the film – spaces. Theatrical spaces usually dedicated to the re-staging of a famous scene or sight from a painting known to experts of the Western canon. Some of these are intricately stage-bound, others feel stylised but are set in a real environment – Angelidi does not insist on a formal approach.

To further muddle the artistic waters a bit, we see here and there projections in the background. Or groups consciously arranged into a tableau vivant in the middle of an already abstract artistic display as if to satirise the concept of artifice itself. So what do all these levels of alienation do to the way we see women’s bodies, how do they warp the idea of beauty – in which way does pain become a key to female existence? There’s little in cinema quite like Topos and surely nothing else that looks at Western art in a similar critical style.

– Olaf Möller

Trailer

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