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The Owl's Legacy

The Owl's Legacy

★ 9.0/10•1989•26m•Documentary
Similars

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.

Chris Marker · Director

Chris Marker · Writer

Jean-Claude Carrière · Writer

StatusEnded
Runtime26m
LanguageFR
First Air DateJun 12, 1989

Episodes

E126m

Symposium, or the Received Ideas

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

Jun 12, 1989

E226m

Olympics, or the Imaginary Greece

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.

Jun 13, 1989

E326m

Democracy, or the City of Dreams

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.

Jun 14, 1989

E426m

Nostalgia, or the Impossible Return

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

Jun 15, 1989

E526m

Amnesia, or the Sense of History

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

Jun 16, 1989

E626m

Mathematics, or the Realm of Signs

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?

Jun 19, 1989

E726m

Logomachy, or the Root of Words

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.

Jun 20, 1989

E826m

Music, or the Inner Space

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.

Jun 21, 1989

E926m

Cosmogony, or the Use of the World

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.

Jun 22, 1989

E1026m

Mythology, or the Truth of Lies

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.

Jun 23, 1989

E1126m

Misogyny, or Desire's Traps

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?

Jun 26, 1989

E1226m

Tragedy, or the Illusion of Death

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.

Jun 27, 1989

E1326m

Philosophy, or the Owl's Triumph

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.

Jun 28, 1989

Actors

André Dussollier

André Dussollier

Narrator (voice)

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