Category Archives: Movies

Movies with either a Greek meme or associated with the Greek culture

“The Christmas Tango” (Το Τανγκό των Χριστουγέννων)

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“The Christmas Tango” (Το Τανγκό των Χριστουγέννων)
Dir: Nikos Koutelidakis, Greece, 2011

Sunday, December 11, 2016 @ 3 PM
Talbot Auditorium, Luther Bonney Hall, USM Portland campus

the-christmas-tangoAn unexpected meeting between the sixty-five-year-old Lazaros Lazarou and a young man, on Christmas Day, brings back hidden memories from 1970 at the time of the Greek junta. Then, in an isolated army camp in Evros, the lieutenant (Yannis Stankoglou) commands the soldier (Antinoos Albanis) to teach him the tango in secret. At a Christmas celebration that winter, the sensual dance becomes the focus for the intersection of four lives: an introverted soldier; a harsh lieutenant; a strict and very conservative colonel (Giannis Bezos); and Zoi Loggou (Vicky Papadopoulou), the colonel’s wife, who is suffocating in her restricted life. Through the dance the lieutenant hopes to get close to Zoi and reveal his love for her. In Greek with English subtitles. 102 minutes.

“One Time and a …Baby” (Μια Φορά και ένα… Μωρό)

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“One Time and a …Baby” (Μια Φορά και ένα… Μωρό)
Dir: Nikos Zapatinas, Greece

2011 Sunday, November 13, 2016 @3 PM
Talbot Auditorium, Luther Bonney Hall, USM Portland campus

one-time-and-a-babyIn this cute comedy, Nondas (Sakis Boulas), a pistol-packing tough guy in his 50’s, stops his car to relieve himself, but hears a shout from below. It’s a man tied to the railroad tracks who wants to be left alone to die in peace. Alcibiades (Petros Philinnides), an out-of-work lingerie designer, owes money everywhere, has a wife who cheats on him, has never had children — for all these reasons he wants to put an end to his life. But when the train actually approaches, Alcibiades has second thoughts and begs to be released. Nondas agrees to help only if Alcibiades swears he will become his loyal servant. You see, Nondas has a baby in the car and is traveling around to find her mother. It seems Nondas had slept with many women and one of them dropped off “their” baby so that Nondas could take care of her. He needs Alcibiades to help him on this quest. Meanwhile Alcibiades’s wife is riddled with quilt and tries to rescue her despondent husband with her lover in tow. So amongst sexy lingerie, multiple mistresses, the unfaithful wife, and a hard-nosed father, love blooms for a little baby—truly the star of the movie. In Greek with English sub-titles. 86 min.

“My Grandfather’s People” (Dedemin insanlari)

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“My Grandfather’s People” (Dedemin insanlari)
Dir: Çagan Irmak, Turkey

2011 Sunday, October 9, 2016 @3 PM
Talbot Auditorium, Luther Bonney Hall, USM Portland Campus

my-grandftatrhers-keeperThis Turkish film is a popular drama about the ethnic Turks, who had lived for generations in Greece, who were forced to migrate to Turkey during the population exchange at the end of the WW I. It is somewhat the reverse story that is told in the Greek movie, “Politiki Kousina” (“A Touch of Spice”). When Grandfather was just seven years old his family was displaced from Crete to mainland Turkey. Here the family is not fully accepted because they are considered to be Greeks. Yet in Greece they were considered Turks. The Grandpa’s greatest desire is to see the land of his birth before he dies. It is this longing that makes him frequently drop bottles containing letters into the Aegean. The lack of acceptance in the village is particularly hard on the young grandson who acts out. In the light of the current refugee situation in Greece, it is helpful to once again hear this story of when both Greek people and Turkish people were forced to leave the land of their origins – millions of them. Through these population exchanges, people experience what it means to be “the other”. In Turkish, Greek, and some English with English subtitles. 126 minutes.

Movie “Little England” (“Μικρη Αγλλια”)

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Sunday, March 6, 3 PM, Talbot Auditorium, Luther Bonney Hall, USM Portland campus

Director: Pantelis Voulgaris, Greece, 2014

Little England is Greek period drama/romance that takes place on the island of Andros, where 20-year-old Orsa and her younger sister, Moscha, live. Orsa is deeply in love with Spyros Matabes, a lieutenant, but she has never revealed her secret to anybody. On the other hand, Moscha dreams of leaving Andros and escaping women’s fate of marrying sailors, who are usually away from their families. Their mother, Mina, is married to a sea captain who has been away for years, considers marrying for love to be trouble. Over-riding her daughter’s emotions, she wants them to make wealthy marriages. Once married the two sisters share a double home built for them – and the house becomes even more divided as a forbidden love festers. Little England dominated the 2014 Hellenic Film Academy Awards, where it received 13 nominations and won six awards, including that for Best Film. It was the official submission by Greece to the Best Foreign Language film category of the 87th Academy Awards 2015, but it was not nominated. 132 minutes. In Greek with English Subtitles.

Movie: “Boy on a Dolphin”

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Sunday, February 7, 3pm
Talbot Auditorium, Luther Bonney Hall, USM Portland

This movie directed by Jean Negulesco in 1957, was shot on location on the Saronic Islands, notably Hydra, Locale shots of Athens, Rhodes and Delos in the 1950s are also included and make it all worthwhile. One scene utilizes the Eastern Orthodox monastery complex at Meteora. All-time Hollywood and international movie stars Alan Ladd, Clifton Webb, and Sophia Loren are the leads in the movie. Loren plays Phaedra; a poor sponge diver lives on the lovely Greek isle of Hydra, while diving, she discovers and ancient  brass and gold statue of a boy riding a dolphin, which is said to have the magical power to grant wishes. Her shiftless boyfriend wants to sell it to an unscrupulous art collector. Jim Calder (Ladd) wants to return it to the Greek government. What will Phaedra do?