Psyhi vathia (2009)
5/10
Voulgaris this time does not score
15 February 2010
One being familiar with the –in many aspects- minute Greek cinema can't possibly ignore a new film by Pantelis Voulgaris, a predominant figure in the Modern Greek Cinematography. "Psihi Vathia" i.e. "Deep (Courageous) Soul", is a film about two brothers finding themselves in opposite sides during the Greek civil war which, by the way, left ineradicable marks in the modern Greek history as well as in the modern Greek mythology, a civil war that followed the end of WWII. Voulgaris has been accused by some critics that in his honest effort to propose his own version of reconciliation (good guys and bad guys are in both sides) he finds himself trapped in a swamp of melodrama… Personally, I agree that the accusation is fair. Remember the young soldier dying with his mind and last thought in his 40 drachmas' debt (!!!). The battle scenes are perhaps more that what Voulgaris' budget could afford but there is some beautiful woods cinematography which, indeed, does not save the day. Some tried to compare "Psihi Vathia" with "El laberinto del fauno" by Guillermo del Toro . An unfortunate comparison, because, sadly,Voulgaris this time does not manage –as he did with his wonderful but underrated "Nyfes" (Brides)- to score
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