Max von Sydow's character with the German auditor was fictitious and distracting to the main story with cut-scenes placed in the incorrect sequence (i.e., showing Max saying "500 (inaccurate) men were executed with machine guns" before showing the actual scene, while cutting the previous sequence of the men and boys walking up the hill; breaking the scene's tension). Clearly Max was brought in to bring the film some visibility to an international audience; however, if the Greeks had actually filmed the story correctly, it would have been able to stand on its own at any international film festival and audience. The machine gun massacre was very weak and did not depict the horror and nightmare of over 696 (actual number) men and boys being killed to show the inhumanity of what the Germans did to the Greeks of Kalavryta. The cinematographer only focused on a few faces in very tight shot sequences in order to hide the fact that they did not bring in enough extras for the film (a big mistake). After a few rounds of the machine gun firing, the scene was essentially over, with no cries of anguish. In actuality, many more priests and boys were killed than shown in the movie, and the full scale was not shown for the audience to immerse in the severity of the situation. The small scale of the number of women and girls locked inside the school during the film sequences was blatantly wrong, given that there were actually 1,300 in total! Additionally, the women's reaction to finding their husbands was also weak with inauthentic drama (too many close ups and not enough sequences showing the scale and anticipation of them going up the hill from the village). 13 actually survived the massacre, but none of the survivors were shown! The German soldiers were not authentic enough, nor were their 'accents'. In the credits, it states that "the massacre was...one of the worst crimes committed against a Christian population during WW2", however, they did not show the Germans burning of the Monastery of Agia Lavra, which is in the same region (5 km from Kalavryta)!
Spielberg's "Schindler's List" and "Saving Private Ryan", in addition to Klimov's "Come and See" properly display the horrors of war on the soldiers, Jews, and Russians, and the sense of realism and 'bone-chilling' dread throw a clear gut punch to those trying to emulate a deeper sense of reality and understand history's message. Director, Dimitropoulos, and cinematographer, Rahmatoulin, of "Echoes of the Past" failed to capture a fraction of the real harrowing story of the atrocities witnessed and experienced by the Greeks. Fundamentally, if only the production team had studied Klimov's (or even Angelopoulos') cinematic techniques of camera positioning and scene framing, they would have been a little closer to a true Greek film capturing the essence of a proper period piece. Clearly, the team behind this film failed to do their fallen countrymen justice by striving, instead, to create a modern "made for TV" drama! Consequently, and regrettably, this film will not stand the test of time.
*NOTE: As a Greek, I have actually visited the town of Kalavryta, the Monastery of Agia Lavra, and the sites surrounding the massacre.
Spielberg's "Schindler's List" and "Saving Private Ryan", in addition to Klimov's "Come and See" properly display the horrors of war on the soldiers, Jews, and Russians, and the sense of realism and 'bone-chilling' dread throw a clear gut punch to those trying to emulate a deeper sense of reality and understand history's message. Director, Dimitropoulos, and cinematographer, Rahmatoulin, of "Echoes of the Past" failed to capture a fraction of the real harrowing story of the atrocities witnessed and experienced by the Greeks. Fundamentally, if only the production team had studied Klimov's (or even Angelopoulos') cinematic techniques of camera positioning and scene framing, they would have been a little closer to a true Greek film capturing the essence of a proper period piece. Clearly, the team behind this film failed to do their fallen countrymen justice by striving, instead, to create a modern "made for TV" drama! Consequently, and regrettably, this film will not stand the test of time.
*NOTE: As a Greek, I have actually visited the town of Kalavryta, the Monastery of Agia Lavra, and the sites surrounding the massacre.