The Photograph

I fotografia (The Photograph) is one of the most highly acclaimed Greek films but very few people have actually heard of the movie (even in its country of origin). What I enjoyed in Papatakis' film is the representation of the Greek society during the time when the Junta (Military dictatorship) was already governing the country (1971-1974). Except from the obvious focus on human obsessions and the psychological thriller turn of the film, we could clearly see the political comment on how hard it was to survive in Greek circles (within the country and abroad) if you were considered to be a communist.In Kastoria, the city where the story begins, all these banners in favour of the regime had "Greece of Greek Christians" or "Country, Religion, Family" written on them. These were the main slogans of the dictators. I found the storyline about the protagonist's (Yerasimos) love of an idea (a photograph)quite metaphorical and parallel to the Greek population's blindness towards the Junta.As Ilias characteristically says to his mother towards the end of the film "what we love about someone is their lie".