a look at the music of Vangelis Papathanassiou

Introduction
Henry Chapier's second movie "Amore" is if possible even more mysterious than his first film "Sex Power". What is confirmed is that Vangelis provided an original score to this film, as the title is included in the so-called "Spheric list". After all these years nothing other remains of the film but a poster, some lobby cards and a press sheet...

It is likely that "Amore" played on film festivals and in French cinemas for a while, as suggested by the lobby cards displayed on the side of this page. It could very well be that copies of the film still exist in one of the French film archives, but if they do, it remains to be seen if the years have not degraded the film beyond repair.

With no soundtrack release and the film unavailable in any format, no possibility exists as yet to hear Vangelis' original score and so it remains one of the major challenges and mysteries to uncover...

Details and Credits
Amore (France, 1973)
Length: 85 minutes
Released in France: January 30th, 1974

Directed by: Henry Chapier

Scenario: Henry Chapier and Anne Capelle
Cinematography: Alain Derobe
Camera: Anne de Gasperi
Music: Vangelis Papathanassiou

Produced by MARA films and O.R.T.F.

Cast

Media
Unfortunately "Amore" has never been released in any format after its original screening in 1974. It remains one of the biggest mysteries to the many people who are curious to know what this film is that Vangelis composed music for while he was just starting his solo-career. Surely there must be copies stored somewhere in France, in a dark corner of some movie archive? I just hope this film will not be lost forever and will see the light of day again, someday! If you have an idea of how to uncover this film, please write to me.

Synopsis
As told on the original press-sheet: 

"This film examines the problem of rescuing Venice. But is neither a documentary on art, nor a television special like S.O.S. Venice. A Young reporter goes to Venice, considering he is there on a 'special assignment'. Between him and the city there is no warmth, no affinity. Like a surgeon naively engrossed in his operation, Alquier examines the city's wounds, photographing them and imagining ways to heal them.

Paolo, his Italian collaborator, tries to show him the unusual side of Venice, rather than the postcard, folk tenor version. Alquier visits the dilapidated palaces and the teeming slums and sees people's faces loom into view, but a myth can not be easily erased.

While strolling alone through the city Alquier thinks he sees a face in the stone... The age-old 'love at first sight' takes a different turn. What follows is not a romantic, nor even a realistic, love story. Right away, he films the girl, Marina, in his fantasy. We never find out if the girl has a real flesh-and-blood, everyday existence, or if she merely represents Venice in Alquier's mind.

Alquier pursues his assignment, but it becomes more sensitive, peotic, more human. What was documentary description becomes a genuine encounter. Marina triggers a daydream in Alquier's mind and begins to have an existence of her own in which the other character, Paolo, plays an important part; he is refractory, rebellious and scoffs at the system, declaring that Venice and the rescue project are nothing more but a farce, a cultural alibi to soothe the conscience of the western world. He is the negative image of an architect.

Rescuing Venice is like winning a person's affection or encountering love; it can not be done from the outside. Daniel Alquier's experience serves as an example and a warning to all who think they can solve major problems with disembodies formulas and viewpoints lacking faith. As for Venice herself, her heartbeat is slower as it once was. Are the stones, pollution and the tides solely to blame? What about the Venetians?

another synopsis, in French:

"Un jeune architecte, Alquié, est envoyé par le gouvernement français étudier une solution pour sauver Venise. Son collaborateur, photographe italien, estime que le Français ne connaît pas suffisamment l'âme de la ville et de ses habitants pour statuer de son sort; afin de lui faire mieux saisir cette ambiguïté, il utilise les charmes de Marina, jeune comtesse désoeuvrée qu'il a séduite facilement. Celle-ci, énigmatique comme la ville, fréquente les deux hommes jusqu'au jour où sa mère décide de la marier à un richissime compatriote, plus intéressant par la noblesse de ses ancêtres que par sa valeur personnelle. Comprenant que les Vénitiens préfèrent se scléroser et conserver leurs traditions surannées, Alquié quitte, écoeuré, Marina et Venise."