Ziteitai pseftis (2010)

Theofilos Ferekis is the new minister of Health and Welfare who has to deal with all the "favours" he promised during the pre election period. As soon as he realizes that he will not easily... See full summary »

Director:

Ieroklis Michaelidis

Writers:

Panagiotis Mantziafos (adaptation), Dimitris Psathas (play)

Stars:

Ieroklis Michaelidis, Odysseas Papaspiliopoulos, Zeta Makrypoulia

Cast

Credited cast:
Ieroklis Michaelidis	...	Theofilos Ferekis
Odysseas Papaspiliopoulos	...	Thodoros
Zeta Makrypoulia	...	Tzeni
Pigmalion Dadakaridis	...	Leonidas (as Pygmalion Dadakaridis)
Pavlos Orkopoulos	...	Agis
Michalis Iatropoulos	...	Karabekos
Fotini Baxevani	...	Koula (as Foteini Baxevani)
Katia Goulioni	...	Kali (as Katia Gkoulioni)
Thanasis Dovris	...	Giannis
Klelia Renesi	...	Stella B
Akis Sakellariou	...	Hatzigeorgiou
Rest of cast listed alphabetically:
Maria Filippou	...	Mitera Thodorou
Tasos Kostis
Sergios Leventis	...	Thodoros se ilikia 10 chronon (Thodoros at 10 years old)
Dimitris Mavropoulos

Storyline

Theofilos Ferekis is the new minister of Health and Welfare who has to deal with all the "favours" he promised during the pre election period. As soon as he realizes that he will not easily pull off, he decides to hire a... professional liar. Theodoros Parlas or Pseftothodoros (Liar Theo) who has a great "talent" for making false promises starts a great career as Ferekis' right hand man. One lie leads to another and they soon need a lot more lies to handle hilarious situations. 50 years later, the play of Dimitris Psathas remains a classic.

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Plot Keywords:

liar | lie | politician | satire | greece | 

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Taglines:

Dimitris Psathas' classic comedy more topical than ever!

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Genres:

Comedy

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Details

Country:

Greece

Language:

Greek

Release Date:

23 December 2010 (Greece)

Also Known As:

Liar Wanted

Company Credits

Production Co:

CL Productions, Film In Mind, Finos Film

Technical Specs

Runtime:

87 min

Color:

Color

Did You Know?

Connections

Features Man on Fire (2004)

User Reviews

politics Greek style

This bitter political satire is based on a theatre play, later made to a movie, of which the current film is a remake.It's main focus is the clientelistic character of Greek politics which makes a well-meaning but naive Health minister to employ an ambitious young provincial with a talent for lying in order to handle the diverse demands of his volatile political clientèle.The provincial becomes the mastermind behind every move of the minister causing the envy of the minister's closest associates and of his good-looking wife, played by rising Greek media star Zeta Makrypoulia. Changes of fortune abound and finally the plot reveals that the lying provincial is not a bad person in heart although he never denounces lying as a survival strategy.

A satire on Greek politics with the problems of endemic corruption, clientelism and favoritism and occasional links with crime, financial or otherwise, the movie does not avoid being commonplace and very probably will affirm the sense of moral and cultural superiority of Western European and North American viewers towards Greek but also general Mediterranean social realities.

The cast includes actors that are very prominent in the present cultural scene of modern Greece and that will act as a magnet for the audience. Some comic occurrences are very memorable and responsive for a Greek audience although I can not guess whether they can be translated well in another visual and social culture.

The movie ends with a quasi-moral tone. Although it contains elements of truth one should not base solidly his/hers estimation of Greek social and political mores on what he sees here.