"Wild Bees" is a Greek series about three farmer sisters who live in a small, fictional village in the Thessalian flatland in the late 1950s. The story begins with the three heroines murdering the elder's husband when he tries to rape his wife and her sisters in their wedding night.
Well, it seems pretty harmless and quite interesting, right?
Wrong. Oh, God, we were so wrong to believe in that.
Let's see Problem No1:
The plot. The TV-show starts and when you watch the 10 first episodes you think: "I might like that, it's nice". After those 10 episodes comes the downfall. The plot is gone, vanished, like there has never existed. Things happen in this village that are so irrelevant, nobody seems to care, the "investigation" on Sergios' death (the rapist) is such a joke... I almost persuaded myself that season 8 of Game of Thrones was excellent and flawless in front of this TV-Show. And it is. Unfortunately. I hoped that Greek productions were about to get serious and create something beautiful and meaningful with depth and structure. Well, they didn't. To sum up, there in no plot and that's frustrating.
Problem No2:
What Characters?
If the characters in Tommy Wiseau's "The Room" are ridiculous and disgusting then I don't know how to describe the characters in "Wild Bees". When the TV-Show begins you have a handful of characters who can evolve, become something exceptional and represent the darkness of human nature. Nevertheless, the three sisters and their peasant sidekicks (or the other villagers) have no personality, no reasonable motifs, nothing interesting triggers them and makes them 'hunt' their needs. They remain as they are, you don't witness some kind of character development. Instead, they seem to follow a very safe path of choices, they make decisions that are very predictable and if you look closely you'll notice that the screenwriters cater to the audience's desires. You didn't see that coming, did you?
Problem No3:
Directing & Soundtrack
Oh God, if I could say more I would have written a book about this TV-Show's errors.
When it comes to the direction all I can say is this: What. The. Hell. The direction is so disappointing. On the one hand, you have this vintage, sepia, brownish filter, those nice shots in the fields and the oldest sister Helen (played by Mary Kitsou) riding on her white horse and you can sense the wildness surrounding her. Then, suddenly, the director throws on your face a stupid blue light with a blurry white glow which are there all the time as if someone blew on the camera lens. There is nothing special here, only a blunt shot that is thrown before you almost unedited. Really, it's irritating. But do you know what's more irritating? The fact that I believed in this TV-Show.
Let's talk music now. In the beginning there are so much to pay attention to that you don't even realize that the soundtrack is not even there. Some moody and playful tunes are put here and there. Actually most of the soundtrack is the theme song slightly altered in order to fit into each scene. If you have the courage to watch 30+ episodes -as I did- out of curiosity then you'll start to notice some new and interesting tunes but until then do not expect something that will stick to your head and murmur it while driving at work - it will probably be the theme song but after a while you'll get bored of it, especially if you live in Greece and open the radio only to listen to this a hundred times a day. Once again, you'll be disappointed by the soundtrack as well.
Problem No4:
Acting.
It is said that Greek actors are among the most respectable and professional in the world and I believe that. In "Wild Bees" you can see some new and old actors playing and their acting is bearable. However, some of the actors are really good considering the ambience of the TV-Show. Though the actresses who impersonate the three sisters are mediocre and the lead actress Mary Kitsou who plays the elder one (Helen) is far greater on stage. Leonidas Kakouris impersonates the wealthy landowner and his acting is pretty pleasing as much as Katerina Didaskalou who plays his wife Myrsine. In my opinion, the greatest actor in the TV-Show is George Gallos who not only manages to move the audience but he embodies his character brilliantly. He definitely carries the can and saves the day with his acting skills. Some notable mentions are Andrew Konstantinou who plays Sergios and unfortunately he had a small part, Pavlos Orkopoulos who plays Nestoras is a remarkable figure in the Greek scene of visual arts and George Gerodikakis who plays Meletis the errand boy and legal ward of the wealthy family. The rest is not to be mentioned.
I could go on and on but it's worthless. There are so many episodes to be released and it's pointless to write about a TV-Show which gets worse instead of getting better. There are some artists who deserve recognition but as a whole the series sucks. All I can say as a summarization is this: Go watch "Eteros Ego" the film and the series and you'll be astounded by the abilities Greek television and cinema have.
