The pairing of incompetence, lack of any talent whatsoever, stupidity, bad writing, half-arsed directorial effort, mediocre to bad acting and a rather interesting historical topic produced this sorry excuse of a movie presented by the Greek media as some kind of event-flick or masterpiece. But Greek audiences are aware by now of the low standards of every film director (lol) Yannis Smaragdis ever cobbled together and are not and will not be fooled again by this charlatan who thinks that a few swinging drapes in front a window stand for high art. Smaragdi go home u imbecile and leave cinema to the younger generations who lately make movies with international success compared to you who tries to suck up to the press so your non-cinematic drivel looks like something worth peoples time & money. A low point in Greek cinema history. The lowest of the low.

Against the criticism of hard nuclear people of art into the cinema theater's... This movies its a piece of art for the deepest meaning of freedom, of the real history, with excellent photography, scenario. For the cost of the creation of the movie.. you cant find nothing better into the cinema.. something else than to split the popcorn on to the floor. So.. this movie deserve congratulation for the result they create with that budget and the wonderful actors played they roles extremely nicely. I am wondering how people looking that movie depends the point of view. The point of history are annoying ? The point of the meaning are annoying? or the country are annoying.. Whatever the reason are.. I am a happy simple viewer without "special cinema knowledge" that brings me into an other era of real meanings of freedoms and life. Thanks for that.

Possibly the worst film I've seen in the past 20-25 years. No character development - I kept wondering how Varvakis was going to contribute to Greece's War of Independence and was never really satisfied with a clear- cut answer. As already pointed out, Varvakis' daughter, when she re-enters the film as an adult (we are first introduced to her as a newborn) is so inappropriate. In age, she could easily be Varvakis' wife. Like another reviewer, although I do not generally form impressions based on looks, many actors/actresses/a couple of the children were so unattractive as to detract from the film. Seriously.I don't think writing a script or directing a film are easy, but the people doing these jobs on this film deserve to be fired. I wish I hadn't wasted my money on this.As per popular Greek commercial - TRAGIC.

The storyline is bland and the pacing slow. The film was confusing even for native Greek so I imagine it would be even more so for the foreign viewers it is supposed to target.Shallow characters, unimaginative writing and generally bad dialogue. The theological overtones make no sense at all. The viewer is constantly wondering why the main characters are doing what they are doing as there is virtually no character development. Some beautiful photography, however I had the feeling that half the film takes place in one room (the mansion's living room)! Overall a below average film. Reminds me on the one hand of Greek films of a (thangfully) long-gone era where the "deep meanings" and "inner thoughts" of the director were the film's "raison d'etre" and on the other cult patriotic films usually shown on national holidays in Greece.