Landscape in the mist is a Greek film produced by Theo Angelopoulos in 1988. 62nd Academy Awards selected it as the Best Foreign-language Film. However, its nominee was not accepted. Pubescent Voula and her brother Alexandros wanted to meet their father, whom they had not seen before. Their mother informed them that their father lived in Germany. The two children planned secretly to use Athens Railway Station, although they were denied access due to a lack of tickets. The cinema address aspect of sexual abuse in society.
The children hitch travel with Vassilis Kolovos en route to Germany. Alexander slept, and the driver pulled the track off the road. Voula and driver moved from the truck, driver grabbing her on the body of the track covered with a sheet. He wanted to sexually abuse her. The camera kept zooming in the back of the seat. Alexander woke up in search of his sister while calling her. He walks around the truck frame, but he didn’t find her.
The camera zoomed again at the truck, and eventually, she emerges under the sheet. She was perplexed for having broken her hymen. A lot of thoughts ran in her mind concerning the action. At some time, she felt guilty when she discovered blood flow. She was torn between losing her hymen and injury sustained from the trucker. She wasn’t sure whether she was raped or fondled. Blood was evidence of sexual assault. In several instances, the author leaves the audience in suspense for unexplained ordeals.
In another scene, the children encounter another youth named Orestes. He collects a film in a garbage can. He looks at the film against streetlamp and asks the kids what they have observed. Gray mist is seen once the camera zooms on the film. The children were mature enough because they could not explain the obscene pictures in the movie about the adult figure, which is foreshadowed at the end of the film. The children went to sleep and embarked on storytelling moments about the Genesis story of creation.
They visit the train station every day to verify German passengers if they could find their father. However, they did it several days in vain until a nearby vendor recognized them. The kids are taken to custody by their uncle (Dimitis Kaberidis). Snow hits the station, and the kids flee away from getting breezed. On the other hand, Orestes observes a giant statue that emerges from the water and airlifts by helicopter. The scene is confusing to the audience since the figure resembled a stone. A stone can’t float on water. It was a mesmeric moment for the magical view.
According to the Fellini film, the statue was of Jesus Christ in the introduction scene of the film. The statue also symbolizes a bargaining chip that was used to win women hence subverting the holy statue of the statue. The audience can draw several conclusions from the scene. Orestes watches the shrinking hand size as it disappears in the horizon with the kids. In the same view, the kids observe a dying horse in a wedding arena. Nobody offered support to the horse until the horse dies. The kids are torn in a series of thoughts as the crowd could have stopped the marriage celebrations and help the horse.
Orestes promised the kids he will support them in crossing the border to Thessaloniki town by train. He attends night club for business with the kids. The kids take off, and he follows them. Voula is jealous of love with Orestes of which he doesn’t recognize. Initially, he tried to hold her and refused due to the sexual trauma of the previous ordeal. The scene climaxes when he catches her to stop her from sobbing. He expressed the affectionate moments he missed when he tried to hug her at the beginning, but she refused. He wished he could stay with her. However, the kids plan to leave and cross the border. Orestes watch kids as they disappear from him devastatingly.
In the final scene, the kids are looking for money to cater for their transport and cross the border. They are not aware that a passport is required before crossing the border. Voula asks soldiers for 385 drachmas. She follows him to the train frame, ready to offer sex as collateral for the money. He was confused as it will be an act of child prostitution, but Voula had no other alternative to get the fare. The kids board the train, and once the passport is requested, they disappear from the train. They board a boat to the other side of the shore. They saw a tree, and both of them hug it quoting the genesis verse. “In the beginning, there was dark, and the light was divided from the darkness.”
According to the film scenes, the kids are passing traumatic moments. The audience can question the type of mother she was by deceiving her children. Another question arises whether Orestes was indeed to provide care for the kids and avoid joining his German army, or he was after sexual favors from Voula. She addressed an internal letter to her father, claiming how her brother was judging her for betrayal. She suggested going back, but Alexandre tarnishes her views. He is his big brother and therefore he is the one supposed to make a decision. After the kids vanished from home, neither authorities nor their mother is concerned about their whereabouts.
In conclusion, the cinema had a series of scenes with fascinating shots. It has several views of sexual harassment in Voula. On the train, Voula was sexually harassed without her consent by the trucker. Orestes has also affiliate for her despite being a child. She was healing from the first ordeal, which made her refuse a hug from him the first time they met. Another instance is depicted in the obscene pictures on the DVD casing they collected on the garbage. Finally, sexual harassment is evident by the soldier in the train station.