This is a character who has been hurt very deeply inside, and has spent years brooding on that hurt.How the daughter of Nicholas Gatzogiannis, the author of the famous book on Civil War, faced the ghosts of the past and overcame the family heritage of the horror of the executions. The result is more effective than if he pounded on tables and waved his arms - choices some other actors might have made, given a volatile Greek-American to play. And, when it rises, it seems as if feelings are being forced out of him. His characters internalize their feelings.Īnger causes his voice to drop. Malkovich is developing into one of the great strong quiet zones of contemporary film acting. It provides the emotional payoff for all of the groundwork in the Malkovich performance: We see the decision of a man we have grown to know. In particular, there is a moment when Gage actually sits down at a table across from the man who killed his mother, and looks into that man's eyes, and tries to decide what to do next. That said, there are still many fine qualities in "Eleni." Some of them are not quite apparent until near the end of the movie, when the climactic scenes help us appreciate what before. The importance of his mystery is lessened.Īnd the movie dissipates tension by providing us with information Gage is still searching for.
By allowing us to see the events of 40 years ago, the screenplay makes a tactical error: It shows us things that Nick Gage himself never saw, and could never have known. The movie starts by looking through the eyes of an adult American who seeks answers from his childhood and his past. In a curious way that has to be seen to be understood, the flashbacks weaken the story. Both performances are good, but the second one is not necessary. The flashbacks center on the last days of his mother, played by Kate Nelligan as a remarkably strong, courageous, clearheaded peasant woman.
The adult Nick is played by John Malkovich as an introspective, wryly intelligent man who harbors deep hurts and angers. "Eleni" tells Gage's story in the present day, and then uses flashbacks to tell his mother's story.
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