Filmed on Crete in the Prefecture of Chania this is a charming coming of age film. A sweet story of the hopes and dreams of a group of young boys in the late 60's before mass tourism. Beautifully filmed it has a simple story line and narrates the simplicity of youth. From reading some other reviews, it's clearly too subtle for some people.
Plot summary
Summer 1969. Dictatorship. In a small country town, young Achileas breaks his leg by falling off the yard wall of the local cinema. He wanted to see Brigit Bardo naked... However, during his visit to the city to treat his broken leg, for the first time in his life he sees a television! The program informs about the launching of Apollo to the moon. The idea of the launching becomes Achileas' obsession and along with his friends they collect money, in order to purchase a TV set. However, soon, the dilemma becomes imperative. Will they buy a television or "visit" all together Uranya in order to be taught the secrets of love? The situation gets even more complicated when the authorities arrest Achileas' father along with the father of a good friend in order to intimidate others: Spiros Agnew, who will visit Greece, intends to visit the small country town as well and so everything must show quiet and "friendly" to the regime... Achileas and his friends will not give up that easy... In order to buy the television of their dreams, they will accept to distribute Greek and American flags to the people of the town. Achileas' disappointment is immense, when he discovers that the money collected was stolen by his friends, for other, more "erotic" destinations. The unexpected arrival of a television Uranya in town by the "town's crazy man" will result in watching Apollo's launch in the café in a rather paradoxical way... whereas the local cinema will stay deserted.—Official
March 23, 2023 at 05:56 AM
Director
Costas Kapakas
Top cast
Maria Grazia Cucinotta as Uranya
Despina Mirou as Girl in Photo
Tech specs
720p.WEB 1080p.WEB 875.1 MB
1280*544
Greek 2.0
NR
29.97 fps
1 hr 34 min
P/S ...
Movie Reviews
Reviewed by
Charming Film
Reviewed by
I'm still not sure what I was meant to take away from this film
Part coming of age, part social comedy, part nostalgia fest, part farce.... but ultimately unsatisfying. So why was a stunningly beautiful woman living in a hut by the sea? And if she is a 'lady of the night' as seems likely, why does she seem to specialize in young teenage boys as clients? And now I think about it, how come no-one in the town is the slightest bit offended by her presence and why don't any of the men in town use her services.... how does she make any money? Certainly not from horny young boys buying her time with their pocket money! And there's a crashed plane close to the village - great for the kids to play in but is that it? No back story or explanation and no real connection to the narrative? Maybe the woman by the sea was the pilot and now she's stranded there.... who knows! And the sudden entry of the crazy investigator.... who is he and is he meant to be funny? Do you need to know recent Greek history to understand? And the regular fat jokes left me feeling pretty uncomfortable and I'm not even that PC to be honest!
I stuck it out to the end just to see what happened but if this is a classic of Greek cinema, heaven help Greek cinema! I mean, it's not really dreadful.... but I was left wondering who was supposed to enjoy this and why? I actually want more people to watch it so they can give their opinions.... I'd be genuinely interested, but for me it was a waste of time.
Reviewed by
Magnificent piece of Greek cinema
My wife convinced me to go to our local Othellos cinema in Limassol to watch this movie. All I can say is that I was amazed by the quality of this picture. The direction, the casting, the nostalgic 60's atmosphere, the photography, the landscapes and even the special effects were all without precedent for a Greek movie. What really blew my mind though was the ending. Usually, Greek movies are a little weak in their endings but this was a crown achievement by my standards. Every single scene seems to have been shot with great care. you get the feeling that you're on a magic carpet ride right up to the climax and when you get there you wish the movie would not end. It proves that a well crafted story is all that is needed to create magic. I hope they make more like this one. Very well done!
No comments yet
Be the first to leave a comment