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The Owl's Legacy

The Owl's Legacy

S1 · E1

IMDB:

9.5
The Owl's Legacy

Released

6/12/1989

Duration

0h 26m

Genre

Documentary

Country

France

Cast

André Dussollier

Overview

A 13-part documentary series by Chris Marker examining how ancient Greek ideas continue to shape modern Western thought. Each episode centers on a single Greek word—such as “democracy,” “philosophy,” or “mythology”—through conversations filmed in cities around the world. Combining symposium-style discussions with archival footage and visual motifs of the owl, Marker creates an expansive reflection on the enduring legacy of Greece.

Episodes

Symposium, or the Received IdeasEP 1Available

Symposium, or the Received Ideas

26m0.0

In Paris, Tbilisi, Athens and Berkeley historians have played with reconstitutions of the "symposium" - the Greek banquet - around tables laden with food and wine.

Olympics, or the Imaginary GreeceEP 2Available

Olympics, or the Imaginary Greece

26m8.0

Greece's inheritance was recomposed in contemporary mythology. This sometimes led to terrible misappropriations for the benefit of totalitarian ideologies - of which Nazism was born.

Democracy, or the City of DreamsEP 3Available

Democracy, or the City of Dreams

26m8.0

What exactly does the word mean “democracy” mean? Does it designates the ancient city-state or our contemporary political systems? What are the analogies or, on the contrary, the radical differences between realities separated by more than twenty centuries? Are certain functions suitable for all civilizations? Τhe third episode of Chris Marker’s legendary documentary series – which first aired on British state television in 1991 but remained in the dark for decades – returns to classical antiquity to make a bold parallel, familiarizing 21st-century audiences with a concept of the commons that seems primordial yet innovative, reinventing itself in every single manifestation.

Nostalgia, or the Impossible ReturnEP 4Available

Nostalgia, or the Impossible Return

26m0.0

Ithaca is the iconic distant home that no one should forget: such would be the universal lesson of Homer's Odyssey.

Amnesia, or the Sense of HistoryEP 5Available

Amnesia, or the Sense of History

26m8.0

Built on the testimony or "autopsy" - which literally means "seeing oneself" - our conception of History has deeply shifted since Herodotus.

Mathematics, or the Realm of SignsEP 6Available

Mathematics, or the Realm of Signs

26m0.0

The geometrical space and the mathematical language constitute a universal legacy the Greeks have bequeathed us with. How do we articulate its perfect logic to the complexity of contemporary sciences?

Logomachy, or the Root of WordsEP 7Available

Logomachy, or the Root of Words

26m0.0

All the meanings of "logos" originated from a small territory between Ephesus and Patmos. According to Aristotle the human animal fights with a specific weapon: speech... Logos' destiny would it be the "logomachy"? The fight over words.

Music, or the Inner SpaceEP 8Available

Music, or the Inner Space

26m0.0

A cross between imitation and creation, the search for the beautiful and harmonious animates the artists' personal quests - including with cutting-edge technology - as well as it serves great collective schemes - religions in particular.

Cosmogony, or the Use of the WorldEP 9Available

Cosmogony, or the Use of the World

26m0.0

This reflection over creation - divine cosmogony and man's creativity - takes us from the Greek statuary art to the Acropolis' Korai on show in Tokyo. This takes us on towards the Gorgon - a mirror of death.

Mythology, or the Truth of LiesEP 10Available

Mythology, or the Truth of Lies

26m0.0

There are a set of myths to which we constantly refer ourselves. We will question their genesis, their place in psyche, their transmission, their nature.

Misogyny, or Desire's TrapsEP 11Available

Misogyny, or Desire's Traps

26m0.0

The Greek conception of sexuality was very different from ours. What did the Greek think of desire in a world where heterosexuality and homosexuality - far from being opposites - were models of existence that were different but compatible?

Tragedy, or the Illusion of DeathEP 12Available

Tragedy, or the Illusion of Death

26m0.0

The great figures borne out of Greek tragedies help us fathom the founding mechanisms of human practices - all the way to a society like Japan, that is so apparently far from ours.

Philosophy, or the Owl's TriumphEP 13Available

Philosophy, or the Owl's Triumph

26m0.0

Around the metaphorical - but also very real - figure of the owl; entwined reflections upon the place of thought in daily existence and public action - sometimes with and sometimes against the Greek legacy.

Cast

André Dussollier

Narrator (voice)

André Dussollier

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