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Reviews
I psyhi sto stoma (2006)
A punch in the face of western societies
For those who enjoy ethnographic films, this one is brilliant. It is strong, violent, beautiful. From the opening scene the viewer realizes he is about to watch a modern version of pure Greek tragedy. The whole story revolves masterfully around the main character and his desperate efforts to make ends meet. Yet the whole crew performs amazingly. Thus said one should acknowledge Oikonomidis' virtuosity to take the best out of his actors. The use of strong language is not blunt. It is instead meaningful and serves very nicely to portray the violent interaction between characters and a claustrophobic ambiance that puts a question right from the beginning: how long can this go on for and how is-it going to end? Not to be missed.
J.A.C.E. (2011)
Not an action movie you would watch twice
Finally a decent Greek action movie. Taking into consideration the standards of Greek cinematography this is one of the biggest productions ever. The huge effort committed to this film is more than apparent, especially to Greek viewers who are educated not to expect much. Sadly the end result is not as rewarding. Both the story line and the film duration are way too long for an action movie. You would digest this more easily in films with excellent photography, journeys and landscape variety or characters who deliver in their role. Acting however varies from simply OK to poor and that is the weakest point of this film. Exaggeration reigns throughout the whole film and there is a downpour of clichés and bullets. Not one actor does stand out from the crowd and the protagonist is clearly unable to overcome the special restrictions of the hero he was called upon to portray. Moreover the film is not seamless. There is a rather unnecessary and awkward division into chapters, an indirect declaration of difficulty with handling the bulk of the story. In conclusion, J.A.C.E. kept me entertained for 2&1/2 hours but clearly lacks of a quality that makes one want to watch it twice. Fortunately many Greek films do have this quality but are not of the genre "action movie".