THE OWLâS LEGACY is an intellectually agile, engaging, and sometimes biting look at ancient Greece, its influences on Western cultureâand how many eras have reinterpreted the Greek legacy to reflect their own needs. Each of the 13 episodes is centered on a potent Greek word: from âdemocracyâ and âphilosophyâ to âmythologyâ and âmisogyny.â Marker convenes and films symposiaâmeals featuring wine and thoughtful conversationâin locales including Paris, Tokyo, Tbilisi, Berkeley, and an olive grove on Athensâ outskirts. Footage from these banquets is interspersed with archival materials and interviews (often featuring a stylized or distorted owl image looming in the background). Markerâs diverse group of informants includes composers, politicians, classicists, historians, scientists, writers, filmmakers, and actors. Together their contributions form a compelling (and sometimes contradictory) cultural and historical exploration for each theme.
