The Magic of Ancient Greek Civilization Comes to Life in the New IMAX Film
Greece: Secrets of the Past
Using Cutting-Edge Computer Technology, Film
Re-creates the Parthenon and Celebrates the
Thrilling Science of Archaeology
Narrated by Nia Vardalos
Its reign was magnificent; its fall was mysterious. And its influence on modern society is unparalleled. For the first time, the splendor of ancient Greece comes to the giant screen in the new film, Greece: Secrets of the Past, which opens at Phipps IMAX® Theater at the Denver Museum of Nature & Science on Friday, June 9.
Directed by two-time Academy Award-nominated filmmaker Greg MacGillivray, Greece: Secrets of the Past is the stirring story of how a 21st-century Greek archaeologist is uncovering the secret history of his ancient ancestors, who forged a society that continues to shape the world today with its ideas, inventions and achievements. Helping to bring all of this to life with her trademark wit and style is the film’s narrator, Greek-American Nia Vardalos, the writer and star of the runaway hit feature My Big Fat Greek Wedding, for which she received an Oscar nomination for Best Original Screenplay and a Golden Globe nomination for Best Actress.
Set against the breathtaking, azure vistas of the Greek Isles, Greece: Secrets of the Past merges a contemporary archeological “detective story” with some of the most advanced and painstaking digital re-creations ever undertaken for an IMAX film. Scenes in the film restore such centuries-old spectacles as the original Parthenon and the volcanic eruption that buried Santorini in 1646 BC. The film probes some of the greatest lingering mysteries of this remarkable civilization: How did the Greek empire of some 2,500 years ago flourish so fantastically? What was life like in the Golden Age of ancient Greece? And why did it suddenly fall?
At the heart of the film is the story of Dr. Christos Doumas, an impassioned Greek archeologist who, inspired by his love of Greek culture, is working feverishly to piece together the puzzle of ancient Greece and better understand its influence on life today. Also playing a key role is Doumas’ friend and fellow scientist Dr. George Vougioukalakis, a volcanologist studying the devastating explosion on the island of Santorini, which changed life in the Aegean Sea forever.
Doumas demonstrates how archaeology has unearthed the ways in which ancient Greece experienced one of history’s most prolific moments of human advancement. Among the greatest gifts from this society is the powerful concept of democracy itself, which evolved in fifth-century Athens. Other legacies include the creation of the Olympic Games, the imaginative Greek myths, the beginnings of modern theater and entertainment, and the study of philosophy, mathematics, physics, architecture, biology, zoology, politics and ethics, among other academic fields that have changed the world.
The film explores the world-famous island chain of Santorini, where a thriving Cycladic society was buried in 1646 BC by perhaps the most powerful volcanic eruption in known history. A visceral computer-enhanced sequence takes audiences directly into the volcanic phenomenon known as pyroclastic flows, which Vougioukalakis explains carried a force equivalent to 40 atomic bombs, burying Santorini under deep layers of magma and ash. At a bustling excavation site near Akrotiri, Doumas explores remarkably well-preserved ruins of a Bronze Age Greek civilization hidden beneath volcanic ash. As archaeologists patch together wall paintings just unearthed, the scientists discover clues to the everyday lives of Bronze Age Greeks, from the clothes they wore to the foods they ate. But intriguing riddles are also found on Santorini: Why can’t the remains of the Santorini citizens who are said to have died in the explosion be found? And could Santorini actually have been the idyllic island of Atlantis of which the philosopher Plato wrote?
Heading out to the sparkling Aegean sea, Greece: Secrets of the Past next delves into Doumas’ provocative idea that the birth of democracy was aided by the freedom-loving lives of Greek sailors. As early as 500 BC, the people of the Greek Isles began building ships with a metal-tipped ramming prow that became the mainstay of Greece’s wealth and burgeoning system of trade. Doumas believes that the Greek sailors’ passion for exploration and new ideas helped to set the stage for a society based on the values of tolerance, independence and equality.
Particularly compelling is the film’s unprecedented look at the Parthenon, the world-famous temple erected in 447 BC to honor the goddess of wisdom, Athena, that serves as ancient Greece’s most celebrated symbol of wealth, power and democratic ideals. Using groundbreaking computer modeling based on in-depth historical research, the filmmakers recreated what the Parthenon would have looked like in all its glory, when it was brimming with life and brilliant colors at the height of the Greek empire. Audiences will get an extraordinary chance to explore the awe-inspiring monument as it has never been seen before, including a glimpse at the long-lost 42-foot-tall ivory and gold statue of Athena that once towered inside its walls.
Yet, just as Greece: Secrets of the Past explores the rise of ancient Greece’s Golden Age it also ponders the reasons for its precipitous collapse: Why did such a complex civilization end? What warnings might Greece’s past hold for our own modern world? And what inspiration does the Greek’s passionate quest for truth and knowledge continue to hold?
At once a modern detective story and an archaeological journey into the distant past, Greece: Secrets of the Past offers a new and exciting perspective on an age of universal importance to us all, promising another great cinematic adventure on the giant screen.
Greece: Secrets of the Past is produced and distributed by MacGillivray Freeman Films and presented by Alex G. Spanos in association with the Canadian Museum of Civilization and Museum Film Network with major funding from the National Science Foundation and MacGillivray Freeman Films Educational Foundation. www.greecefilm.com
IMAX® is a registered trademark of IMAX Corporation.
Many of the Museum’s educational programs and exhibits are made possible in part by generous funding from the citizens of the seven-county metro area through the Scientific & Cultural Facilities District.
