A Greek young adult, who (apparently) was raised by his grandmother, and has no real prospects in life, pawns his diving medals to make money for a trip to Germany to meet his estranged remarried mother after his grandmother dies. On the way, he meets a German who is traveling to Greece on a yearly basis, and together they drive through Italy and Switzerland to Bavaria.
The plot is not too bad, but it has several logic holes, which make it unbelievable. The main one, is unfortunately a central point of the story: namely he has no driver's license and drives his mother's car, which, even back in the eighties or nineties (when the movie is set), would simply make it impossible to go through the borders. Not to mention that he gets checked by the Italian police and they let him go, despite all this (apparently with no fine either). On the way we learn much about his life story, but nothing about his new companion (who, needless to say, becomes his lover). In the end they reach their destination, meet the mother and her new child, and they (probably) live happily ever after.
The film is not too bad, and belongs to the kind of new wave Greek nostalgic movies, which try to analyze the Greek soul, as it belongs to a different species. Therefore it suffers from the same disease as many indie low-budget movies: being made by talented but not experienced enough people and a very limited team, it borders boredom, and although it manages to somehow develop the main character, all little details around the plot's main thread are simply plausible enough. Surely, one can think of possible answers for each question (for example, what about the guy's social life, what about his other family, what about his father, what about the companion's past, what about the diving medals and so forth and so on). Or one could dismiss them as irrelevant, but then again to understand the psyche of the protagonists, one needs background, and the film simply provides none. The acting is decent (but not great), the scenes acceptable (but not breath-taking), the sound track is borderline.
Watch the film, expecting little and you will spend a pleasant time, watch it trying to understand and you will hate it. If, for some reason, you identify yourself with any of the characters, then your own life's past will fill in the (many) blanks and perhaps make it more coherent.
The plot is not too bad, but it has several logic holes, which make it unbelievable. The main one, is unfortunately a central point of the story: namely he has no driver's license and drives his mother's car, which, even back in the eighties or nineties (when the movie is set), would simply make it impossible to go through the borders. Not to mention that he gets checked by the Italian police and they let him go, despite all this (apparently with no fine either). On the way we learn much about his life story, but nothing about his new companion (who, needless to say, becomes his lover). In the end they reach their destination, meet the mother and her new child, and they (probably) live happily ever after.
The film is not too bad, and belongs to the kind of new wave Greek nostalgic movies, which try to analyze the Greek soul, as it belongs to a different species. Therefore it suffers from the same disease as many indie low-budget movies: being made by talented but not experienced enough people and a very limited team, it borders boredom, and although it manages to somehow develop the main character, all little details around the plot's main thread are simply plausible enough. Surely, one can think of possible answers for each question (for example, what about the guy's social life, what about his other family, what about his father, what about the companion's past, what about the diving medals and so forth and so on). Or one could dismiss them as irrelevant, but then again to understand the psyche of the protagonists, one needs background, and the film simply provides none. The acting is decent (but not great), the scenes acceptable (but not breath-taking), the sound track is borderline.
Watch the film, expecting little and you will spend a pleasant time, watch it trying to understand and you will hate it. If, for some reason, you identify yourself with any of the characters, then your own life's past will fill in the (many) blanks and perhaps make it more coherent.