Representations of Women in the Films of Pantelis Voulgaris: Akropole, The Stone Years, and The Engagement of Anna

In his films, Pantelis Voulgaris attempts to inscribe female identity within the social, historical, and cultural framework of Greek society during the last five decades, if only to underline the indeterminacy of such an inscription. The Engagement of Anna (1972) explores the possibilities of female subjectivity within a culture that is mainly dominated by male power relations, such as they were in Greek society of the 1970s. In The Stone Years (1985), Eleni, the woman protagonist, puts her mark on important historical events, but her subjectivity remains questionable. In Akropole (1995), female identity is constructed on the theatrical stage, as something that can be performed but not necessarily lived or experienced. In Voulgaris's films, the most successful woman is the one represented on the stage of the theatre.