Born on April 17, 1935 to a middle-class family in Athens, Greece, Theo Angelopoulos experienced World War II and the Greek Civil War as a young man, which became the subject of discussion in Theo Angelopoulos' early films. In 1953, Theo Angelopoulos studied law at the University of Athens, but eventually lost interest.
In 1959, Angelopoulos dropped out of university and began two years of military service. In 1960, after watching the film "Exhausted" directed by Jean-Luc Godard, he longed for the film industry.
In 1961, Angelopoulos moved with his parents to Paris, France, where he studied literature, film studies and anthropology at the Sorbonne University in Paris. In 1962, Angelopoulos transferred to the École supérieure des étrogues des étrogues des Filmes, but was expelled from the school in 1963 because of disagreements with his teachers. Subsequently, Angelopoulos continued his studies in film at the Documentary Filmmaker Jean Rush at the Museum of Mankind. Angelopoulos returned to Athens, Greece, from Paris in the summer of 1964, during a period of violent dictatorship by the Greek military junta, and Angelopoulos clashed with the police in Athens. This incident made him decide to stay in Athens, and this incident made Angelopoulos decide to stay in Athens, and he wanted to experience first-hand the suffering that politics brought to the people. He went down to write a film review in a friend's introduction to the leftist newspaper, The Democratic Forces Newspaper.
In 1967, Theo Angelopoulos' newspaper was shut down. Because of writing film reviews, Angelopoulos became acquainted with some New Wave directors in Greece. Their decision to work together to make a film that would escape censorship while expressing political views led to the birth of the 23-minute film "Spread.". The film is known as the "New Greek Film" because of its surprising innovation in subject matter, style and expression.
In 1968, Theo Angelopoulos completed a 20-minute short film Broadcast to satirize the falsity of the media.
In 1970, After traveling around Greece, Theo Angelopoulos made his feature film debut, Reconstruction. The film tells the story of the state of the people and the trial process after the murder in a mountain village in Greece. The film won the International Film Critics Award at the 24th Cannes International Film Festival's "Director's Fortnight" and was hailed as the first film in Greek film history to depict Greek society with great ambition.
From 1972 to 1977, Theo Angelopoulos launched the "Trilogy of Modern Greek History": The Years of 1936 (1972), The Wandering Entertainer (1975) and The Hunter (1977).
Through three independent stories, Angelopoulos looks back at the years from the 1940s to the 1970s when Greece experienced fascist invasions, civil wars, and right-wing military governments. Among them, "The Years of 1936" won the Fibisi Prize at the 23rd Berlin International Film Festival in 1973; "The Wandering Artist" won the Fibisi Prize at the 28th Cannes International Film Festival and the Interfilm Award at the 25th Berlin International Film Festival in 1975; and "The Hunter" was nominated for the Palme d'Or at the 30th Cannes International Film Festival in 1977.
In 1980, he wrote and directed the feature film "Alexander the Great" starring Eva Kotamanido and others, the protagonist of the film is not the emperor who conquered Eurasia, but the savior of modern Greek folklore. The film won the Special Jury Prize at the 37th Venice International Film Festival.
In 1984, Theo Angelopoulos co-wrote the screenplay for the feature film Journey to the Isle of Seter, where he also directed and produced the film, for which he won the Best Screenplay Award at the 37th Cannes International Film Festival.
In 1986, Theo Angelopoulos produced and directed the feature film Beekeeper, which was nominated for the Golden Lion at the 43rd Venice International Film Festival.
In 1988, Theo Angelopoulos changed his style and made the feature film Landscape in the Mist, which won the Silver Lion Award at the 45th Venice International Film Festival and was named the European Film Academy's Film of the Year. It has also been called the "Silent Trilogy" with Journey to Seter Island and Beekeeper.
In 1991, he directed marcelo Mastruani, Jeanne Moreau and Grigory Paticaris, a feature film that explored human dignity in special circumstances and was nominated for the Palme d'Or at the 44th Cannes International Film Festival.
In 1995, in order to commemorate the centenary of cinema, Theo Angelopoulos created the feature film "The Journey of Ulysses's Life", which is based on a Greek director crossing borders to find the lost film film, reviewing the director's previous creative themes and questioning the development of film art, which won the Grand Jury Prize at the 48th Cannes Film Festival.
In 1998, Theo Angelopoulos filmed the feature film Eternal Day, starring Bruno Gantz, Fabrezio Bantifoglio and Isabella Renard, which won the Palme d'Or at the 51st Cannes Film Festival.
In 2004, he directed the feature film Weeping Steppe, starring Giog Armanes, Vasily Corrows and Eva Kotamanido, which was nominated for the Golden Bear at the 54th Berlin International Film Festival, for which Theo Angelopoulos was nominated for Best Director at the 17th European Film Festival.
In 2008, he wrote and directed the feature film Dust of Time, starring William Dafoe, Bruno Gantz and Elena Jacobs. The film tells the story of a woman who embarks on an Odyssey-like journey in search of her lost loved ones. Later, his son brought her experience to the screen.
In 2010, Theo Angelopoulos starred in the feature film Hitler in Hollywood, directed by Federico Socher and starring Wim Wenders, Maria de Medello and Micheline Presler.
In December 2011, Theo Angelopoulos began filming the feature film Another Sea, starring Tony Severo, which revolves around a politician involved in human trafficking.
On January 25, 2012, while filming "Another Sea" in Athens, Theoan Geropoulos was hit by a motorcycle while crossing the road, resulting in cerebral hemorrhage, and died at the age of 76 after being taken to the hospital after ineffective rescue.