Kavafis (1996) - full transcript
Loosely based on the life of Greek poet Konstantinos Kavafis.
LONDON, UK 1950
You invited me here to talk...
about the poet Constantine Kavafis
I'll begin by reading these lines ...
from one of his poems in the language
in which he wrote it.
Poem: In 200 b.C.
We; the Greeks of Alexandria,
of Antioch, of Seleucia and .....
the numerous rest of the Greeks
of Egypt and Syria....
And the Common Greek Language
we carried to the heart of Bactria...
......to the Hindus
We emerged; a great new Greek world.
A great world !
CONSTANTINE KAVAFIS
(Greek Poet 1863 - 1933)
Starring: Dimitris Kataleifos
Vasilis Diamantopoulos
Maya Lyberopoulou
Lazar Georgakopoulos,
Alexander Koukos, Vasilis Seimenis
Costumes
Damian Zarifis
Music by Vaghelis
Writer - Director
Yannis Smaragdis
Alexandria, Egypt 29/April/1933
You have a visitor
At last, Europe begins
to appreciate your work
Kavafis is a modern poet
A poet of future generations
The rare poets, like Kavafis....
will occupy first place in a world..
much more spiritual than ours today
"" Draft notes on the Life and Work
of K. P. Kavafis ""
I brought the notes that I promised
you, for the Preface
For any errors and omissions,
could you....?
Alexandria, a hospitable
trade center of Egypt....
gave birth on 29/April/1863 to the
Greek poet Constantine Kavafis
The Kavafis family was rich....
His parents were Peter John, a merchant
and Hariklia Kavafis nee Fotiadis
Poem: I've brought to Art
I've brought to Art desires....
.......and sensations
I've brought to Art things
half-glimpsed, faces or lines
...certain indistinct memories
of unfullfilled love affairs
Let me submit to Art
My youngest one,
my little honey
Let's make s short stop.
The boys are thirsty
Alexandria, 1871
Poem: When they are roused
Try to guard them, poet
However few they are
that can be held
Hair as though stolen
from Greek statues,
always lovely, even uncombed
and falling slightly
over pale foreheads
Figures of love,
as my poetry desired them
Constantine ! ?
Come ! We still have a long
way to go....
Sham el Nessim is the
Egyptian Spring Festival
something like our Ash Wednesday
At the local Fair, we' ll see
African girls dancing naked
Why are you silent ?
How can you be so secretive ?
There is a gap in narration here
Could you talk to me
about your youth ?
Or write about it, perhaps ?
Tennyson's poem was very touching.
Barrell's biography was entertaining...
a masterpiece, like a novel by
Alexander Dumas as you said
your beloved Shakespeare
was a bit tiresome
as for McCauley, you will lend him
to me again during the vacations
But here you are.....something better
than the pages you bury yourself in
Only, don't let our mothers find out !
Let's go to your room
Mike....... the waltz that
you promised me !
Constantine !
Isn't my partner having any fun...?
The Arabs have revolted,
burning shops and houses
They are going to take over
the Cityhall (= 1882 AD)
Have you found a coach ? (carriage)
My uncle will take you to port for 20 Lira
OK OK take these out.....out.
OK mother, we did it. Holders of
British passports may leave.
We'll sail with the ship "Castore"
Something is screaming inside my head
Quickly !
Constantine ! Hurry up !
I'll miss you....
Constantinople, 1882
My dear grandson.....
What have I promised you ....?
Turn it over, on the other side
Your family tree
It starts here.....15th century AD
Five centuries ago !
After the fall of the Byzantine Empire,
at the Armenian-Iranian border (=1453)
The Kavafis family were always at the
periphery (border), never in the Center
This is your great-grandfather John,
1701 - 1762 AD
He was governor of the city of Iasi
in Moldova, a periphery (border)
Then, here.....
George Kavafis 1745 - 1792
Highpriest of the Church of Antioch,
in the periphery again....
And myself, your grandfather George
Fotiades from the island of Hios
once upon a time,
merchant of diamonds !
Your mother,
the Center of everything !
Constantine !
Another family member, George,
son of aunt Amalia
George would like to take you out,
to show you Istanbul
He is an Apollo ! An Apollo !
(= Greek God of male Beauty)
When the mother returned from Istanbul
to Alexandria with Constantine...
their homecity was not the same as
when they had left....
but also the Kavafis family
were not the same anymore....
they were living in a house at....
Typhus is rampant in Alexandria
I am very sorry !
And all in war with time....
for love of you....
as he takes from you....
I engraft you new
(Shakespeare Sonnet 15)
Poem: Return Return often and
take me beloved sensation
return and take me !
when the memory of the body awakens
and an old desire runs again
through the blood
when the lips and the skin remember
and the hands feel
as if they touch again
My Lord.......the Soul.....
(=reads in Classic Greek)
in the month of Athyr
Lefkios...... went to sleep...
Him....Our tears...Grief...Sorrow...
I thought that....
our ancestors lived only
to enjoy their pleasures...
and not for their sorrows
Something is screaming inside my head
- 100 English Pounds
- 100 Pounds ? For all these ??
Life without money is a
big nothing, my dear son
As from today....
Mr Kavafis will also be working with us
The gentleman is Greek
Coming back to Alexandria....
the bankruptcy of the family,
force Kavafis to go to work
He's hired as an extra scribe at the
Egyptian Irrigation Company
He'll work there for 33 full years !
For a long time he'll be just
a text scribe with no salary
His first salary was 7 Lira
At an old age, Kavafis.....
informs his supervisors that for
personal reasons...
he didn't wish to
renew his contract.
Poem: Far Off
I should like to relate this memory
but it is so faded now
scarcely anything is left
because it lies far off
in the years of my early manhood
A skin as if made of jasmine
that night in August
was it August ? -- that night ...
I can just barely remember the eyes
they were, I think, blue
Ah yes, blue; a sapphire blue
Madam has not slept yet
It's not enough
It's not enough
I succumbed again.
There is no hope at all.
Unless I stop....
I wish to have my picture taken
You are the only one who
will weep for me
Athens, Greece 1901
Ancient Agora (Market)
Cape Sounion - Temple of Poseidon
Thission - Temple of Hephaistos
....of the Gods....
....succumb to desires.....
In 1901 the poet visits Greece
for the very first time
He saw all the monumets in a way that
very few people do that today.
In Athens he meets and befriends
certain intelectuals and artists
One of them....
is the young poet Mavroudis
Good day !
- I'm sorry I'm late..
- As always Mr Mavroudis.....
- You see it's this sudden rain...
- This is Mr Kavafis.
Pleased to meet you
This is Antinoos ! A beautiful
young man from Vithynia
The beloved of the Emperor Hadrian
According to the tradition, he
drowned in the river Nile in 133 AD
Poem: Ionian Just because
we've torn their statues down
and cast them from their temples
doesn't for a moment mean
the gods are dead
Oh Land of Ionia, they love you yet
(Ionia=cradle of Classic Greek Art)
their spirits still remember you
When an August morning
breaks upon you
a vigour from their lives
stabs through your air
and sometimes an ethereal
and youthful form
in swiftest passage, indistinct
passes up above your hills
There isn't only statues in life
Come !! There is no better place
than this !
Return to Alexandria
Poem: The Satrapy What a misfortune,
although you are made...
for fine and great works
this unjust fate of yours always
denies you encouragement and success
that, base customs should block you
and pettiness and indifference
Your soul seeks other things,
weeps for other things
the praise of the public
and the Sophists
the hard-won and
inestimable Well Done
the Agora, the Theater,
and the Laurels
How can Artaxerxes give you these ?
(=Artaxerxes : King of ancient Persia)
where will you find these
in a satrapy ?
and what life can you live
without these ?
"The Regiment of the Senses " (prose)
" All of morality's laws .... "
"poorly understood and applied ...."
"are nil and cannot stand"
"when the Regiment of Senses parades"
"with music and with banners "
Your duty is to give in to Desires
Athens , 1903
Poem: September 1903 And yet
I came so close so many times.....
And yet how paralyzed I was,
how cowardly
why did I keep my lips sealed
while my empty life wept inside me
my desires wore robes of mourning ?
I admire your poetry....
but.......
Please, leave the room !
It is distressing that he lost the
capability to speak
This man, who was such a
fascinating speaker
Anyway, when he was able to speak,
Kavafis always said what he wanted
And not what others wanted him to say
What do you mean ?
Mr Sekopoulos, you are the person
closest to him.....
I'm sorry, but there is nothing
we can do anymore
I think it'd be wise to call
the Greek Orthodox Patriarch
My wife has already gone
to inform him
So, he was finally convinced to
accept him
I mentioned the name Mavroudis to him
and he was very upset
Is it true that Kavafis.....?
My dear sir, Kavafis keeps
his secrets to himself only !
Poem:Sculptor of Tyana
I've handled a lot of stone in my time
and in my own country, Tyana,
I'm really quite famous
Poem: Myris We'd known of course
that Myris was a Christian
But he lived exactly as we did
more devoted to pleasure
than all of us
his friends were not Christians
Poem: Tomb of Iasis
You know the pace of our life
its fever,
its absolute devotion to pleasure
Poem: in the Tavernas Living a vile life
I wallow in the tavernas
Not long ago, he was asking me to
go again to the library
He wanted some info on
the ancient city of Antioch...
in order to finish a poem
(priest voice): This is the last Holy
Communion for the servant of God.....
May all your sins be atoned and
may you earn eternal life
"" Bring me some water.
I'm in pain ""
"" Only gods know the future. They only
and uniquely possess the Light ""
"" Time ""
"" Our minds are on Charmides ""
(=book by Greek philosopher Plato)
"" Draft notes on the Life and Work
of K. P. Kavafis ""
Poem: ITHACA
As you set out for Ithaca
hope that your road is a long one
full of adventure
full of discovery
The Laistrygonians, the Cyclops
(=mythical monsters)
and angry Poseidon -
don't be afraid of them
ask that your road is a long one
may you gain fine things
mother of pearl and coral,
amber and ebony
sensual perfumes of every kind
as many sensual perfumes as you can
Keep Ithaca always in your mind
(Ithaca = homecoming after a journey)
Arriving there is
what you're destined for
But don't hurry the journey at all
Better if it lasts for years
so you're old by the time
you reach the island
wealthy with all you've gained
on the way
not expecting Ithaca
to make you rich
Ithaca gave you
the marvellous journey
Without Ithaca,
you wouldn't have set out
She has nothing left
to give you now
And if you find her poor,
Ithaca won't have fooled you
Wise as you will have become,
so full of experience
you'll have understood by then
what these Ithacas mean
K. Kavafis died in Alexandria in 1933,
on his birthday 29/April
You invited me here to talk...
about the poet Constantine Kavafis
I'll begin by reading these lines ...
from one of his poems in the language
in which he wrote it.
Poem: In 200 b.C.
We; the Greeks of Alexandria,
of Antioch, of Seleucia and .....
the numerous rest of the Greeks
of Egypt and Syria....
And the Common Greek Language
we carried to the heart of Bactria...
......to the Hindus
We emerged; a great new Greek world.
A great world !
CONSTANTINE KAVAFIS
(Greek Poet 1863 - 1933)
Starring: Dimitris Kataleifos
Vasilis Diamantopoulos
Maya Lyberopoulou
Lazar Georgakopoulos,
Alexander Koukos, Vasilis Seimenis
Costumes
Damian Zarifis
Music by Vaghelis
Writer - Director
Yannis Smaragdis
Alexandria, Egypt 29/April/1933
You have a visitor
At last, Europe begins
to appreciate your work
Kavafis is a modern poet
A poet of future generations
The rare poets, like Kavafis....
will occupy first place in a world..
much more spiritual than ours today
"" Draft notes on the Life and Work
of K. P. Kavafis ""
I brought the notes that I promised
you, for the Preface
For any errors and omissions,
could you....?
Alexandria, a hospitable
trade center of Egypt....
gave birth on 29/April/1863 to the
Greek poet Constantine Kavafis
The Kavafis family was rich....
His parents were Peter John, a merchant
and Hariklia Kavafis nee Fotiadis
Poem: I've brought to Art
I've brought to Art desires....
.......and sensations
I've brought to Art things
half-glimpsed, faces or lines
...certain indistinct memories
of unfullfilled love affairs
Let me submit to Art
My youngest one,
my little honey
Let's make s short stop.
The boys are thirsty
Alexandria, 1871
Poem: When they are roused
Try to guard them, poet
However few they are
that can be held
Hair as though stolen
from Greek statues,
always lovely, even uncombed
and falling slightly
over pale foreheads
Figures of love,
as my poetry desired them
Constantine ! ?
Come ! We still have a long
way to go....
Sham el Nessim is the
Egyptian Spring Festival
something like our Ash Wednesday
At the local Fair, we' ll see
African girls dancing naked
Why are you silent ?
How can you be so secretive ?
There is a gap in narration here
Could you talk to me
about your youth ?
Or write about it, perhaps ?
Tennyson's poem was very touching.
Barrell's biography was entertaining...
a masterpiece, like a novel by
Alexander Dumas as you said
your beloved Shakespeare
was a bit tiresome
as for McCauley, you will lend him
to me again during the vacations
But here you are.....something better
than the pages you bury yourself in
Only, don't let our mothers find out !
Let's go to your room
Mike....... the waltz that
you promised me !
Constantine !
Isn't my partner having any fun...?
The Arabs have revolted,
burning shops and houses
They are going to take over
the Cityhall (= 1882 AD)
Have you found a coach ? (carriage)
My uncle will take you to port for 20 Lira
OK OK take these out.....out.
OK mother, we did it. Holders of
British passports may leave.
We'll sail with the ship "Castore"
Something is screaming inside my head
Quickly !
Constantine ! Hurry up !
I'll miss you....
Constantinople, 1882
My dear grandson.....
What have I promised you ....?
Turn it over, on the other side
Your family tree
It starts here.....15th century AD
Five centuries ago !
After the fall of the Byzantine Empire,
at the Armenian-Iranian border (=1453)
The Kavafis family were always at the
periphery (border), never in the Center
This is your great-grandfather John,
1701 - 1762 AD
He was governor of the city of Iasi
in Moldova, a periphery (border)
Then, here.....
George Kavafis 1745 - 1792
Highpriest of the Church of Antioch,
in the periphery again....
And myself, your grandfather George
Fotiades from the island of Hios
once upon a time,
merchant of diamonds !
Your mother,
the Center of everything !
Constantine !
Another family member, George,
son of aunt Amalia
George would like to take you out,
to show you Istanbul
He is an Apollo ! An Apollo !
(= Greek God of male Beauty)
When the mother returned from Istanbul
to Alexandria with Constantine...
their homecity was not the same as
when they had left....
but also the Kavafis family
were not the same anymore....
they were living in a house at....
Typhus is rampant in Alexandria
I am very sorry !
And all in war with time....
for love of you....
as he takes from you....
I engraft you new
(Shakespeare Sonnet 15)
Poem: Return Return often and
take me beloved sensation
return and take me !
when the memory of the body awakens
and an old desire runs again
through the blood
when the lips and the skin remember
and the hands feel
as if they touch again
My Lord.......the Soul.....
(=reads in Classic Greek)
in the month of Athyr
Lefkios...... went to sleep...
Him....Our tears...Grief...Sorrow...
I thought that....
our ancestors lived only
to enjoy their pleasures...
and not for their sorrows
Something is screaming inside my head
- 100 English Pounds
- 100 Pounds ? For all these ??
Life without money is a
big nothing, my dear son
As from today....
Mr Kavafis will also be working with us
The gentleman is Greek
Coming back to Alexandria....
the bankruptcy of the family,
force Kavafis to go to work
He's hired as an extra scribe at the
Egyptian Irrigation Company
He'll work there for 33 full years !
For a long time he'll be just
a text scribe with no salary
His first salary was 7 Lira
At an old age, Kavafis.....
informs his supervisors that for
personal reasons...
he didn't wish to
renew his contract.
Poem: Far Off
I should like to relate this memory
but it is so faded now
scarcely anything is left
because it lies far off
in the years of my early manhood
A skin as if made of jasmine
that night in August
was it August ? -- that night ...
I can just barely remember the eyes
they were, I think, blue
Ah yes, blue; a sapphire blue
Madam has not slept yet
It's not enough
It's not enough
I succumbed again.
There is no hope at all.
Unless I stop....
I wish to have my picture taken
You are the only one who
will weep for me
Athens, Greece 1901
Ancient Agora (Market)
Cape Sounion - Temple of Poseidon
Thission - Temple of Hephaistos
....of the Gods....
....succumb to desires.....
In 1901 the poet visits Greece
for the very first time
He saw all the monumets in a way that
very few people do that today.
In Athens he meets and befriends
certain intelectuals and artists
One of them....
is the young poet Mavroudis
Good day !
- I'm sorry I'm late..
- As always Mr Mavroudis.....
- You see it's this sudden rain...
- This is Mr Kavafis.
Pleased to meet you
This is Antinoos ! A beautiful
young man from Vithynia
The beloved of the Emperor Hadrian
According to the tradition, he
drowned in the river Nile in 133 AD
Poem: Ionian Just because
we've torn their statues down
and cast them from their temples
doesn't for a moment mean
the gods are dead
Oh Land of Ionia, they love you yet
(Ionia=cradle of Classic Greek Art)
their spirits still remember you
When an August morning
breaks upon you
a vigour from their lives
stabs through your air
and sometimes an ethereal
and youthful form
in swiftest passage, indistinct
passes up above your hills
There isn't only statues in life
Come !! There is no better place
than this !
Return to Alexandria
Poem: The Satrapy What a misfortune,
although you are made...
for fine and great works
this unjust fate of yours always
denies you encouragement and success
that, base customs should block you
and pettiness and indifference
Your soul seeks other things,
weeps for other things
the praise of the public
and the Sophists
the hard-won and
inestimable Well Done
the Agora, the Theater,
and the Laurels
How can Artaxerxes give you these ?
(=Artaxerxes : King of ancient Persia)
where will you find these
in a satrapy ?
and what life can you live
without these ?
"The Regiment of the Senses " (prose)
" All of morality's laws .... "
"poorly understood and applied ...."
"are nil and cannot stand"
"when the Regiment of Senses parades"
"with music and with banners "
Your duty is to give in to Desires
Athens , 1903
Poem: September 1903 And yet
I came so close so many times.....
And yet how paralyzed I was,
how cowardly
why did I keep my lips sealed
while my empty life wept inside me
my desires wore robes of mourning ?
I admire your poetry....
but.......
Please, leave the room !
It is distressing that he lost the
capability to speak
This man, who was such a
fascinating speaker
Anyway, when he was able to speak,
Kavafis always said what he wanted
And not what others wanted him to say
What do you mean ?
Mr Sekopoulos, you are the person
closest to him.....
I'm sorry, but there is nothing
we can do anymore
I think it'd be wise to call
the Greek Orthodox Patriarch
My wife has already gone
to inform him
So, he was finally convinced to
accept him
I mentioned the name Mavroudis to him
and he was very upset
Is it true that Kavafis.....?
My dear sir, Kavafis keeps
his secrets to himself only !
Poem:Sculptor of Tyana
I've handled a lot of stone in my time
and in my own country, Tyana,
I'm really quite famous
Poem: Myris We'd known of course
that Myris was a Christian
But he lived exactly as we did
more devoted to pleasure
than all of us
his friends were not Christians
Poem: Tomb of Iasis
You know the pace of our life
its fever,
its absolute devotion to pleasure
Poem: in the Tavernas Living a vile life
I wallow in the tavernas
Not long ago, he was asking me to
go again to the library
He wanted some info on
the ancient city of Antioch...
in order to finish a poem
(priest voice): This is the last Holy
Communion for the servant of God.....
May all your sins be atoned and
may you earn eternal life
"" Bring me some water.
I'm in pain ""
"" Only gods know the future. They only
and uniquely possess the Light ""
"" Time ""
"" Our minds are on Charmides ""
(=book by Greek philosopher Plato)
"" Draft notes on the Life and Work
of K. P. Kavafis ""
Poem: ITHACA
As you set out for Ithaca
hope that your road is a long one
full of adventure
full of discovery
The Laistrygonians, the Cyclops
(=mythical monsters)
and angry Poseidon -
don't be afraid of them
ask that your road is a long one
may you gain fine things
mother of pearl and coral,
amber and ebony
sensual perfumes of every kind
as many sensual perfumes as you can
Keep Ithaca always in your mind
(Ithaca = homecoming after a journey)
Arriving there is
what you're destined for
But don't hurry the journey at all
Better if it lasts for years
so you're old by the time
you reach the island
wealthy with all you've gained
on the way
not expecting Ithaca
to make you rich
Ithaca gave you
the marvellous journey
Without Ithaca,
you wouldn't have set out
She has nothing left
to give you now
And if you find her poor,
Ithaca won't have fooled you
Wise as you will have become,
so full of experience
you'll have understood by then
what these Ithacas mean
K. Kavafis died in Alexandria in 1933,
on his birthday 29/April