The story starts in 1919, with some Greek refugees from Odessa, in the Ukraine, arriving somewhere near Thessaloniki, in Greece. The refugees build a small village, somewhere near a river, and we watch as the kids grow up and fall in love. However, difficult times of dictatorship and war are coming.

With his sweeping, observational camera gliding across the theatrical tableaux of his astonishing compositions, Theo Angelopoulos forges a panoramic study in the landscapes of his national history. The first film in an unfinished triptych, The Weeping Meadow is an expansive, elliptical masterwork.