The theme and the setting attract a viewer, but then one's enthusiasm is slowly dissipated by a Chinese water torture of watching the glowering face of the protagonist. Not even the voyeuristic examination of perfect tanned and naked bodies can pay the viewer sufficiently for enduring this film. The emotional issues the doctor faces are settled in the normal male before high school graduation and never need revisiting.
... View MoreI was not preparing for something serious after the first 10-15 minutes of the film; after which my wife left the room, offended by the nudity. We are both Greek-born and were used to the old ways, though we were quite aware of what modernism has brought to Greek beaches. But the movie was not about nudity. It was the drama of a middle-aged man who had not tasted the joys of life, being glum and relatively ordinary. But a young Aphrodite partying with her friends caught his attention. The movie relentlessly follows his obsession, and if Nabokov invented Lolita, this story gets more intense. I would say the Greeks have learned something about tragedy. I was dazzled by the excellent photography and the gorgeous Greek island. Not an absolute masterpiece but close to one.
... View MoreAn unhappy middle-aged doctor is posted to a Greek island where he meets a hedonistic group of young people, one of which, a beautiful, liberated girl, he falls for.This is the kind of film that puritanical, emotionally stunted Hollywood - and probably even the rest of increasingly Islamified Western Europe - is not capable of making nowadays. It's a searingly human drama about unrequited love, the consequences of ageing, and the depths to which a human can sink when failure and rejection become commonplace. It's brave, bold and beautiful.Casually erotic (the actress who plays the frequently nude Anna could be described as cinematic Viagra), superbly acted by the lead (his character has to plummet to depths that are excruciating to watch) and unnervingly accurate in whatever scene it turns its eye to, it dares to tell a story that is as dark as we all are beneath our exteriors. And it triumphs.The outraged person who gives this film 1/10 on this site hilariously appears not to have even seen it as they get a major plot point completely wrong.
... View MoreI saw this movie at its premiere, at Rotterdam International Film Festival 2016. The plot is a really simple story of a disappointed 40-something year old man, Kostis (Makis Papadimitriou, "Chevalier"), who, while working as a doctor in Antiparos island, falls passionately in love with a young Anna (Elli Trigkou). The movie is set in the beautiful, yet crazy scenery of Antiparos, and it portrays its atmosphere and hedonistic frenzy in a vivid and realistic way. The drunkenness of summer and the liberal power of youth, as captured by the lens of Argyris Papadimitropoulos ("Wasted Youth"), are constantly being collated with the awkward phase of the middle aged body and the protagonist's useless struggle of overlooking it. The photography and visuals of the movie are stunning. Each frame is carefully set in a way that the characters inner selves are revealed through nature. The documentary-like feel of some of them serves as a catalyst in enclosing the atmosphere of the place through the unfolding of the plot. The body, and the ways we perceive it are also part of the plot, so be prepared for a lot of nudism and strong language. Makis Papadimitriou seems to be the best choice of portraying the disappointed, dissatisfied man who falls victim of his own passions. His performance is excellent, realistic and never over the top. Elli Trigkou is also convincing as Anna, and the rest of the cast seems to be carefully chosen. All in all, this movie is the vivid and painful hymn of the coming of middle age. A must see.
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