Planet Origo ver. 0.10e
last updated 2009-02-22 19:02 CET
A new documentary film about and with Vangelis is soon to be finished. It is expected to arrive on TV and DVD later this year, from acclaimed documentary director Tony Palmer.
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Tony Palmer is an award winning music documentary maker who himself came up with the idea about a documentary film on Vangelis, the Greek composer. The idea had been lingering for several years, until Palmer started working on it in May 2008. The film, called Vangelis and the Journey to Ithaka has the full cooperation from Vangelis himself, who is appearing in the film in several newly filmed sequences. According to director Palmer the crew spent a whole week filming with Vangelis. There will also be archive footage in the film.
The documentary will feature both a retrospective look at Vangelis' career, as well as a dive into his thoughts, a "making of Vangelis" of sorts, and will last for 2 hours and 22 minutes. Interviewed or appearing in the film are Sean Connery, Oliver Stone, Roman Polanski, Ridley Scott, Jon Anderson (Yes), Henry Mancini, Hugh Hudson, Jessye Norman, Harrison Ford, David Puttnam, Peter Gelb, Gerard Depardieu and others. Furthermore extracts from the films 1492 - Conquest of Patadise, Chariots of Fire, Bitter Moon, Alexander, Blade Runner, the concert Mythodea and more will be shown. Additionally, NASA's chief scientist provides his views.
Tony Palmer is one of the leading directors of music documentaries and historical drama films in the world. His filmography of over one hundred films ranges from early works with The Beatles, Cream, Jimi Hendrix and Frank Zappa (200 Motels), to the famous portraits with and about Walton, Britten, Stravinsky, Maria Callas, John Osborne, Margot Fonteyn and Menuhin. His 7 hour 45 minutes film on Wagner, starring Richard Burton, Laurence Olivier and Vanessa Redgrave, was described by the Los Angeles Times as "one of the most beautiful films ever made". Among over 40 international prizes for his work are 12 Gold Medals at the New York Film & Television Festival, as well as numerous BAFTA (British Academy of Film & Television) and EMMY nominations and awards. He is the only person to have won the Prix Italia twice.
Vangelis is a Greek composer of electronic and orchestral music, often combined, and one of the foremost artists within his field in the world. Being one of the few million-selling artists in his musical category, Vangelis enjoys success globally for his studio albums and original movie soundtracks. His career started in the 1960s as member of progressive rock bands, and moved on to documentary soundtracks and solo albums in the 70s. In 1981 he composed the score to Chariots of Fire, for which he won an Oscar award. He also composed the much acclaimed scores to the films Blade Runner (1982) and 1492 - Conquest of Paradise (1992). Throughout the 80s and 90s Vangelis composed a string of solo electronic albums as well as a few other movie soundtracks, and scores for stage plays and ballets.
September 4, 2009 update: Director Tony Palmer informs us that the documentary has been put on ice indefinitely due to disagreements.
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