Tag: greece

Son of Sofia (O gios tis Sofias)

Posted on by Redmond Bacon

The year is 2004. The Olympic Games are finally returning to their birthplace of Greece. Along with the Russian Olympic team, Misha (Victor Khomut) arrives in Athens for the first time to be reunited with his mother. He is a true little Russian boy, with a Gera the Krokodil t-shirt and a Cheburashka doll affixed to his backpack, a reference to the two stars of the classic Soviet animation. Nervous to be in a new country, things turn worse when his mother Sofia (Valery Tscheplanowa) introduces him to his father-in-law Mr Nikos (Thanasis Papageorgiou).

Using the familial conflict genre while refracting it through dark fairy tales that reference both Greek and Russian traditions, Son of Sofia is a reflection on matters both domestic and national. The first sense we get that this relationship is somewhat transactional is reflected through Sofia’s marriage to Mr Nikos, who didn’t really marry him for love but in order to secure financial stability and as a means to get her son across to Greece.

There’s no doubt that Mr Nikos stands for an older side of the Greek country, one that is being irreparably changed by modern advancements and the rise of immigration. While the young lad doesn’t speak a word of Greek, Mr Nikos takes it upon himself to lecture him in the culture and language of the Hellenic nation. He was once the star of a Mr Rogers-style children’s show, replete with animal mascots that pervade the more surrealistic moments of the film.

Son of Sofia

Scored to classic Soviet songs, these moments show the strange headspace of the young, mostly mute young boy at odds with the new world around him. There are larger themes at work here. With the 2004 Olympics proving economically ruinous for the country ahead of their later financial collapse, Son of Sofia examines the thornier side and deeper cost of Greek pride. The 1980 Moscow mascot, Misha the bear is also given a strange makeover here — meant to be a cutesy and likeable teddy, he becomes a strange and malevolent force.

These conflicts are shot in a staid, stately and slow style, capturing characters through hallways and long corridors. Without much sense of spectacle, we rely heavily on watching them watching television, whether it is the television show Little Vera, the Athens Olympics — which we are told feature various Russian athletes competing as Greeks — and Nr Nikos’ show. Perhaps they could’ve been incorporated into this fantasy-world a little more forcefully, but they create a haunting and sad effect that lingers across the entirety of this unique semi-fantasy film.

While the middle part of the movie, involving Misha running away and becoming involved with other Russian-speaking youths is a little thinly drawn, the film really comes into focus during its final third, which manages to resolve the central conflict at the heart of the story without compromising on its own vision. It suggests that progress can be made, but at quite a difficult cost.

You can watch Son of Sofia during the entire month of December for free with ArteKino – just click here.

Tailor (Raftis)

Posted on by Redmond Bacon

QUICK SNAP: LIVE FROM TALLINN

A sweet and whimsical film with the air of a fairy tale, Tailor reminds us that it’s never too late to reinvent yourself. Cloaking a contemporary Greek issue within an old-school and gentle framework, it’s a slight delight that contains real insights into how economic crises can provoke unorthodox change.

Nikos (Dimitris Imellos) is a middle-aged man with a fine eye for detail. Tailor plunges us into his sewing regime early on with neatly rendered montages of the different processes that go into a perfect suit. He has inherited this fine-suit business from his father, who owes the bank money and is in failing health. Once his father is in the hospital, Nikos is forced to move his business on the road, offering his bespoke services on a street market.

There are great moments of comedy as the old-school tailor explains to people in the street the sheer amount of money and expense that goes into making a personally-fitted suit, making him an incongruous figure among the other sellers offering easy-to-wear, cheap-to-buy clothes right off the rack. Previously a men’s tailor, he suddenly finds himself a new and foreign customer: women. A previously solitary and particular man, there is a sense Nikos has never thought much about the other sex in his life. But thanks to a well-rendered relationship with a young Russian girl and her mother, Nikos starts to entertain and broaden his outlook on life; making Tailor a kind and satisfying feel-good tale.

Taking obvious inspiration from the Greek economic crisis, which devastated countless businesses across Athens, Tailor feels eerily prescient of small business capitalism in 2020. This year we have seen many businesses adapt and go mobile in order to survive. Whether its setting up takeaway service, online shops, or providing virtual options, reinvention has become a necessary reaction to the forces of the pandemic. In this sense Nikos was simply ahead of the curve. And one can’t help but think that, while an oddity in the streets of Athens, his mobile tailor concept would fit perfectly within the busy streets of London.

With shades of Patrice Leconte’s films — especially something sweet and gentle like The Hairdresser’s Husband — Tailor is attuned to the rhythms of work and the way one’s career can intersect with one’s life. Debut feature director Sonia Liza Kenterman’s experience as a production designer comes through in the unique look of the shop, which occupies a huge space in the imaginative power of the film, wearing years of history on its dusty shelves. And naturally, the costume design is pitch-perfect, with gorgeous women’s clothes that actually look like they would fit regular-size women.

Ultimately, while there is a marked lack of genuine conflict that could’ve elevated the material into something a little more profound, this is a modest and heartfelt film perfect for inspirational viewing.

Tailor plays as part of the First Feature competition at Tallinn Black Nights Film Festival, running from 13th to 29th November.