126 AMERICAN ANTHROPOLOGIST [78,1976 J

Sardis do not come across well, even in t h e historical survey. The latter is too brief and too much tied t o representations of coin issues from the time of the Archaic city until its destruction by the Persians some 12 centuries later.

The archaeological section of the film begins with a visual and narrated reminder that the archaeologists’ workday begins a t dawn. Their work, which began in the Gymnasium in 1958, is carried out in a highly dramatic setting, most of it a t the foot of the wildly eroded acropolis looking out across a plain dotted with funeral mounds. The archaeologists and their as- sistants are shown at a variety of tasks: examining the ruins of the Acropolis; super- vising excavations in the Lydian market where they uncovered traces of the 7th century B.C. invasion by the Cinimerians; discarding unwanted pottery sherds (“except rare decorated ones”), a practice doubtlessly abandoned in more recent seasons; using the giant tripod for part of the photographic recording of the Gymnasium; and there are repeated shots of the restoration of the enormous and early Synagogue. There is an account of the frustrating exploration of t h e interior of the Royal Tomb where work was abandoned in 1966 without finding the burial chamber, presumably that of Gyges. All of the other funeral mounds investigated were found t o have been plundered by tomb robbers, both ancient and modern, and pictures of the plunderers’ tunnels serve as eloquent testimony of the energy and destructive capabilities of treasure seekers.

There is an appealing coherency about the movie: an historical sketch of Sardis elaborated by details gained chiefly through excavation. It is visually attractive, some- times even exciting, with few photographic slips. But it is not going t o serve well, beyond the introductory level, as a photo- graphic document of how archaeological recovery and analysis are conducted a t a major historical site in the Old World.

The Temple of Apollo at Bassae. 1971. Produced by Malcom R. McBride, with the collaboration of Paul McKendrick and Mary Zella Philippides, filmed by Harold Case. Color, 16 minutes. Rental $12.50, purchase $250.00 from International Film Bureau.

Thomas Howe Harvard University

This visually pleasing film about the temple of Apollo Epikourios a t Bassae is a

rather curious mixture of various intellectual levels: on the one hand, it is simplified and romanticized, created for the student or traveller who is largely unaware of classical architecture; on the other hand, it touches upon and illustrates almost every major issue that is involved in this late 5th century temple. For a high school class it serves as a good illustration and description of a partly typical, partly atypical monument; for some college classes the visual material might serve to illustrate some things that slides might not, though it would probably be best to turn the sound off.

Although the description is of a simple, even simplistic nature, the site, the purpose, the date of construction, the typical ele- ments of Greek architecture, even the history of the discovery beginning with C. R. Cockerell’s and von Hallerstein’s visits in the early 19th century are well described. It is typical of the approach of the film that the social and historical background of the construction of the temple is glossed over rather vaguely; a t the same time McBride takes the trouble t o quote Pausanias, who is one of the main ancient sources for the temple’s date.

The Temple o f Apollo at Bassae is a visual description, often clear, usually beautiful. Photographic techniques of pan and zoom are used to enhance the awareness of spatial relationships and volumetric characteristics in a way that is rarely gained from studying photographs. The narrative, however, does very little to expand any student’s knowl- edge of the broader issues involved.

The Acropolis of Athens. 1960. Produced and directed by Robert Monthoulis, in col- laboration with Yannis Miliades, filmed by Fotis Mesthenos. Color, 30 minutes. Rental $30.00, purchase $300.00 from Con- temporary Films/McGraw-Hill. The Acropolis. Produced by Boulton- Hawker Films; educational collaborator D. C. Chipper field. Color, 11 minutes. Rental $9.00, purchase $135.00 from International Film Bureau.

Thomas Howe Harvard University

The Acropolis of Athens is a clear and orderly introduction to most of the items of the Athenian acropolis on a rather simple intellectual level, though the visual material is well enough organized to serve as a pleasant augmentation for certain college courses. I t succeeds in giving the student a

A UDIO VISUALS RE VIEWS 127

clear understanding of the physical layout of the entire site though it is largely dissociated from the historical context.

The lack of pretension in historical back- ground and other issues is sane and fortu- nate; only the opening of the, film is burdened with a travelogue-like oration on the beauties of Athens. The few comments that are made on matters of style are likely to be misleading in their simplicity. The narrative does give a fairly passable idea of the time limits of the great era of construc- tion, but no sense of the great personalities of that era. Passing comments on icon- ography are too diluted to be of much explanatory use to the beginning student.

The film is useful primarily for its practical description. It begins with a very good description of the complex lay of the site and even mentions the remains of the Mycenaean predecessors. The sculpture and building fragments of the Archaic acropolis are made clear in conjunction with recon- struction drawings and models, and the description of the great period of building in the 5th century B.C. begins with an admirable account of the terracing that was needed to expand the site. While beginning with the Parthenon the narrator acquaints the audience with some of the major ele- ments of the Doric order, informs them as to the subject matter of the temple’s sculptural program, dwells on the practical arrange- ment of the interior, and mentions in passing the famous optical refinements. The film then proceeds in the same orderly fashion to the Erectheum and the Propylaea. While the broader context is ignored, the concentra- tion upon the objects before us and their simple meanings and use is straightforward and clear.

Intelligent use is made of movie photo- graphy to provide means of illustration that are otherwise unavailable. Any professor who has tried to introduce a class to the acropolis has probably become tongue-tied when faced with the Propylaea; one mag- nificent panning shot from the sunset at the Piraeus up to the Parthenon gives one an immediate and clear sense of the complex interrelation of the buildings around the Prop ylaea.

The accomplishment of The Acropolis of Athens is to give a clear and visually hand- some introductory description of the physical layout of the Athenian acropolis. This film can be a useful supplement to lecture, slides, or reading, but even as a short introduction it is incomplete in itself, except at a fairly superficial level of high school work.

The Acropolis, by comparison, is a very

disappointing film. It provides a description, or introduction, of the most simplistic sort, a short travelogue tour around the acropolis of Athens designed for the comfort of people who are upset by momentous issues or overwhelming beauty. The major monu- ments are not described; they are only mentioned. Little advantage is taken of the special descriptive possibilities of the motion picture; most of the shots can be equated by still photographs. Special illustrative devices, such as models and reconstruction drawings, are poorly exploited.

This film might be of some use to a grade school Latin class that is interested in a first look at the famous acropolis; but when one considers the lack of information in the text and the ordinariness of the photography, one must seriously ask whether films of this sort have any practical value in education.

Trksor de Delphes (The Sanctuary at Delphi). Directed by Edouard Delebecque. Color, available only in French language, 20 minutes. Rental $10.00 from FACSEA.

Laura L. Nash Harvard University

It is easy to emote over Delphi. But a F rench n a r r a t i o n accompanied by Beethoven’s Ninth (First Movement) is ex- cessively overenthusiastic. Delphi’s recessed location on Mt. Parnassus renders it visible “only to gods and eagles.” The difficulties of translating a foreign language would make this film unapproachable for most students, but its value does not lie in the narration anyway: whereas the narration is given to flights of fancy, the cinemagraphics are much more sensibly directed. Extensive use of aerial shots combined with long panning at close range give a good perspective on the architectural details of various buildings in the Temenos as well as their position on the slope and the spectacular view they com- mand-all of which is quite important in understanding this site, but difficult to capture accurately with still photography. A walk up the Sacred Way gives a good impression of the steep incline on which the sanctuary is located, while an animated drawing of the plan of the Temenos, with an arrow indicating the route followed along the Sacred Way, help the viewer sort out locations of treasuries and temples. Visually, this film might be useful in an introductory archaeology or classical civilization course. All the major features of Ancient Delphi, from the stadium to the Polygonal Wall, are