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Reviews
Spirtokouto (2003)
A movie of breakthrough reality, summarises the conditions in many families and picks an area of the West suburbs of Athens
The actors performance is unmatched. The storyline emphasis is on inner family relationships. The priorities of the family members, the father figure that although means well, he is discredited due to his manners and short temper.
It has a lot to provide to the audience, and requires deep thought and understanding of the characters. The mother figure is shocking. The realism of the film is phenomenal and leaves with unanswered questions, it does not attempt give a clear solution nor an explanation, it just shows the conditions that sadly are more than common specially in west suburbs of Athens.
The verbal insults are emphasised and my personal opinion is that this is so because they shape the reality of the family life. Although in the family they show to be ignored, as in common language, they are copied by the children, and shape their characters.
The father figure focuses on his business and money, while gives a dictator attitude believing its the right way to raise the family as he feels everybody else is incompetent. This attitude is reflected by the indifference and hate of the family towards the father.
The directorhas managed to provide a modern time tragedy.
Features: The father with the archetypes of the 50's applied to modern society, monocrat, strong short-tempered. The role of the mother in shaping the character of the family.
The children who become identical to the parents they have rejected. Overall its a film that requires prior experience (I know I have) to understand the realism of the characters deeply and shows the interactions at multiple levels. Excellent work by Yiannis Economidis.
"Spirtokouto" -> Matchbox metafor of a "small house", if one match burns in the box, all of them are set on fire, burning the box too. (My personal metaphor translation)