Change Your Image
marantosvassilis
Reviews
Gaily, Gaily (1969)
Innocent lost in a biographical film
It is a colorful movie, full of wonderful characters. This movie shows the life of a young boy, named Ben Harvey -maybe young Ben Hecht-who tries to succeed as a reporter in Chicago. It features in the cast the beautiful and mercurial Melina Mercouri, who as Madame Lily-owner of a brothel- 'adopts' Ben when he runs to Chicago to prove himself. Melina Mercouri provides the film with one stellar performance, but you can not stop the thought that she is restrained in some scenes, especially in the beginning with an unflattering piece of hair. She even sings a song of Henry Mancini that as far as I know has never been recorded. (Mercouri although never a professional singer, had a wonderful voice that helped here to record some classic songs like 'Never on Sunday'. Keith and Kennedy are good in their but easily forgotten. Bridges provides some somewhat stupid expressions, but his part is never developed, as N.Jewison never gave him directions.
Eroika (1960)
A forgotten and neglected Greek film
Cacoyannis based this film in a Greek classic novel by Kosmas Politis, named 'Eroica'. It was filmed five years after his first masterpiece 'Stella' (1955) starring the mercurial Melina Mercouri. Eroica means heroic and generally means a hero or heroine who fulfills the definitions of what is considered good and noble in the originating culture, typically the willingness to sacrifice the self for the greater good. So, this is a story of two boys and their actions and flaws which lead them to their downfall.At first, we have Alekos. A handsome boy of fifteen, that realizes that he is in love with Monica the daughter of the British Ambassador. He is also a member of the teenage boys gang. The leader in the gang is Loizos. The film begins with the accidental death of Andreas, Loizo's best friend, by Nestoras, and the reactions of the boys to this tragic event. Loizos trying to cope with the event, realizes that he is the illegitimate son of his mother's adulterous affair. He abandons the gang and leaves with a theatrical group to find himself. Alekos trying to establish himself as the new leader of the gang, burns down the house of Nestor. He wins the love of Monica, but he loses his self-respect. The end is tragic. Cacoyannis succeeds in creating beautiful images and a romantic vision. The viewer feels sympathy for the arrogant, cocky and heroic Loizos, and sympathy for the imprudent and romantic Alekos. Monica seems beautiful, vain and empty of feelings, the creature that symbolizes the end of the boy's childhood. The only disadvantage of the film is that Kosmas Politi's poetic words and theories seem 'heavy' to be heard from teenagers. Jenny Russell is good but sometimes, you feel that the burden of the role is too big for her. Both Alekos and Loizos are very good actors for their ages. I like the film. It is rather slow, but that helps the final climax and tragedy.
Promise at Dawn (1970)
A very good Performance By Melina
This is the story of Romain Gary. This films shows the relationship between Romain Gary and his Mother, Nina Kacew. Melina is excellent, some critics thought that she deserved an Oscar for her performance. Rex Reed named Melina as the 'Mercourial Melina'.She plays an overbearing mother, and she is excellent at this role. Her love for her son is driving her to do things that non-one else could have thought, as to write hundreds of letters to be sent to her son, daily, after her death, in order for him not to understand the loss of his mother. Melina's best friend, Despo Diamantidou plays Aniela, and Melina's husband and director Jules Dassin plays Romain's friend. It's a very good movie, based on Melina's character.
Ruby Gentry (1952)
A tragic love story
This is the story of Ruby Gentry, as it is told by the town's doctor. Ruby Gentry was born in the wrong side of the town, she never considered herself a lady, and so nobody else did so. When Boake Tackman returns from North America to his hometown, Ruby Gentry believes that their old passion will keep her dreams alive, and that she will finally win his heart. But Boake (Charlton Heston) betrays her love,and marries a wealthy towngirl. Now Ruby marries Jim Gentry, played excellent by Kard Malden, the richest person in the town, but after some months he dies and the whole town turns against her, believing that she has caused his death. Ruby tries to revenge above all, Boake, but with the help of her fanatic christian brother tragedy comes and Ruby looses everything that she wanted.
Jennifer Jones had a big success with this movie, after 5 box-office flops. Its is a well known story, directed very good by Charles Vidor, and supported excellent by Karl Malden. Charlton Heston show the kind of acting that will follow for the rest of his career,and comes out rather convincing.
A good film you would like to see again...(but not a masterpiece)
I aithousa tou thronou (1998)
CLASSIC TV SERIES BASED ON A CLASSIC NOVEL
Glayki, the central heroine, portraited excellent by Maria Naupliotou comes on an island to find as many information as she can for her father, who died during the second world war when he was fighting the Germans. One family, named Deloggis, one of the oldest families in the island, tries to help her. The son Loukas becomes interested in her, and together they try to find as much as they can. One day a stranger rich man comes on the island, only the doctor of the family will recognize that this man was the leader of the German soldiers who killed Glaykis father. He comes fack in order to ask for forgiveness from the victims of the island. Has Glayki the ability and the willingness to really forgive him, can she continue leaving her life without the ghosts of the past? This series is about a group of young people during a hot summer of the 60's on a beautiful Greek Island. Through the personal tragedies, loves and passions of these young people and the members of the Dellogi family we can see how things change during the decades. It has the beautiful, almost poetic music of Rempoutsika, and an excellent cast of actors, like Lempesopoulos, Naupliotou, Kougioumtzis, Alexandrakis and Nikos Rizos in his last role. This is one of the last novels of Tassos Athanasiadis that become a TV Series, like OI TELEYTAIOI EGGONOI, OI FROUROI THS AXAIAS, OI PANTHEOI.
10 out of 10
Oi frouroi tis Ahaias (1992)
One of the best Greek tv series based on a cult classic book
Melio Villi and Zanis Kazianis belong to the same rich family, which has a famous wine factory. Zanis was always considered a b**tard and he will do anything in order to become the leader of this factory.
This tv series shows the lives of this family during the military dictatorship in Greece, during 1967-1974. It is based on a classic novel of Tasos Athanasiadis. It has a brilliant cast which famous actors like Anna Synodinou, Katerina Xelmi. And although Mimi Ntenisi was never of one of the good actress of Greece she is good enough in her performance as Mellio Villi, a woman who can not help herself and tries to find the solution in drugs and a series of affairs. The music of N.Kypoyrgos is very good and the direction of Giannis Diamantopoulos is efficient.
The Fountainhead (1949)
One good movie, a perfect love story
The book was a very good one...The film is a very good one, but it must be remembered that although that it was Ayn Rand the author of the book, that wrote the script, the film has little to do with the book, because her masterpiece was a very long and difficult work of art that could not be easily transferred to the silver screen. Patricia Neil is excellent playing a woman that has everything and wants nothing else that the man of her dreams. Gary Cooper, is not exactly miscast, but he saws that he preffers to be in a western shooting indians and other cowboys than to play a civilized person. I think that he might not have understand the book, or the script at all. Especially in the final scenes where he tries to explain his philosophy in the court after blowing up some buildings that he has created himself. On the other hand he is trying his best, and I have to admit that this is one of the few films that I can tolerate him as an actor, or as anything at all. There is magic between him and Patricia Neil, who was his lover in reality, also.
He plays an architect who tries to show to the society that everyone must act as the owner of himself. Nobody else has the right to make you do something that you know that it does not represent you, that it is not you. King Vidor has created a masterpiece as a director, the perfect love story.
At First Sight (1999)
a sweet old-fashioned story...
It may not be a very original film, but the cast is superb. Both Val Kilmer and especially Mira Sorvino are excellent. Val Kilmer is the blind man who is working in a town with his sister Kelly MacGillis, in a superb form as an actress, isolated from the real life in the big cities. Mira Sorvino is the architect, who is so tired and bored from her life, and visits the town for vacation, falls in love with the Kilmer, and tries to help him. The scenes where Kilmer is learning the meaning of life, like a small child, are small scenes of poetry, and there is a magic chemistry between the two actors, who are obviously enjoying themselves. Also another scene which is very poetic is the scene where Sorvino and Kilmer are traped in an old factory, when it starts to rain, and both explain what rain means to them. The film has the fortune to have a musical score by Mark Isham, and one excellent love song that is one of the best of the last decade. It is an old-fashioned love story, but it does not feel and does not seem old. After watching it you will feel a lot better...
Phaedra (1962)
An excellent underestimated film of the 60's
The truth is that the film has nothing to do with the classic tragedy of Eurypides, but it is own of the most romantic and tragic films of the 60's. It has own of the most erotic love scenes I ever seen, and one of the best musical score that I ever heard. Melina is more beautiful than ever, Anthony Perkins is excellent as the fragile stepson who is seduced by his father's wife(M.Mercouri.)Valone is superb as the Greek Tycoon. Someone must release again the VHS and the DVD and the CD, because it is a good movie, and it did not deserve the bad criticisms that it received when it was first released.