Suntan. (18.)
Directed by Argyris Papadimitropoulos.
Starring Makis Papadimitriou, Eli Tringou, Dimi Hart, Hara Kotsali, Milou Van Groesen and Marcu Collen. Greek with subtitles. 104 mins. Out on Blu-ray and DVD from Eureka!
“You've got to get a little, get a little every day, you get a sunburn right away,” according to Graham Gouldman's title song to the much hyped and then instantly forgotten seventies Farrah Fawcett vehicle Sunburn. During the summer on a hedonistic Greek island, the new doctor Kostis (Papadimitriou) isn't getting any, or very little. When he manages to get an in with a group a young tourists he leaps desperately at the opportunity to be the short fat sore thumb among the lean, young, bronzed bodies on the nudist beaches.
There is sun, sea and sex a plenty but as this is a modern Greek film you know it isn't going to be good time. Here though you will understand what it is you are feeling bad about: Papadimitropoulos doesn't indulge in the opaque allegories favoured by compatriots Yorgos Lanthimos and Athina Rachel Tsangari. Instead he offers a comparatively straightforward tale of mid life crisis as a middle aged man battles against the growing sense of his redundancy set against the backdrop of callous youth, wrapped in the delusion that their bit of fun means something, that it can save the world.
It may lack much of in the way of subterfuge but watching Kostis slow but determined pursuit of the position of beach village idiot is affecting. It's like one of those modern comedies of cringe but without the laughs. Papadimitropoulos really knows how to put nightlife emptiness on screen. Papadimitriou is compelling in the central role, as he was playing a similar role in Chevalier. He should be careful though; he could end up as the designated short fat loser of Greek cinema.
Directed by Argyris Papadimitropoulos.
Starring Makis Papadimitriou, Eli Tringou, Dimi Hart, Hara Kotsali, Milou Van Groesen and Marcu Collen. Greek with subtitles. 104 mins. Out on Blu-ray and DVD from Eureka!
“You've got to get a little, get a little every day, you get a sunburn right away,” according to Graham Gouldman's title song to the much hyped and then instantly forgotten seventies Farrah Fawcett vehicle Sunburn. During the summer on a hedonistic Greek island, the new doctor Kostis (Papadimitriou) isn't getting any, or very little. When he manages to get an in with a group a young tourists he leaps desperately at the opportunity to be the short fat sore thumb among the lean, young, bronzed bodies on the nudist beaches.
There is sun, sea and sex a plenty but as this is a modern Greek film you know it isn't going to be good time. Here though you will understand what it is you are feeling bad about: Papadimitropoulos doesn't indulge in the opaque allegories favoured by compatriots Yorgos Lanthimos and Athina Rachel Tsangari. Instead he offers a comparatively straightforward tale of mid life crisis as a middle aged man battles against the growing sense of his redundancy set against the backdrop of callous youth, wrapped in the delusion that their bit of fun means something, that it can save the world.
It may lack much of in the way of subterfuge but watching Kostis slow but determined pursuit of the position of beach village idiot is affecting. It's like one of those modern comedies of cringe but without the laughs. Papadimitropoulos really knows how to put nightlife emptiness on screen. Papadimitriou is compelling in the central role, as he was playing a similar role in Chevalier. He should be careful though; he could end up as the designated short fat loser of Greek cinema.
