O vasilias (2002)

User Rating:

7.7/10   

Director:

Nikos Grammatikos

Writers:

Nikos Grammatikos (writer)
Nikos Panayotopoulos (writer)

Release Date:

28 February 2003 (Greece)

Genre:

Drama

Plot:

A 35-year old man, just released from jail, decides to make a clean break from the big city and his troubled past...

Plot Keywords:

Village | Depiction Of Corrupt Society | Hunting | Chess | Misfit

Awards:

5 wins

Cast

Vangelis Mourikis	...	Vangelis Farmakoris
Marilita Lambropoulou	...	Maria
Minas Hatzisavvas	...	Petros Voliotis
Babis Giotopoulos	...	Mayor
Vivi Koka	...	Vivika
Tasos Nousias	...	Anastasis
Evangelia Adreadaki	...	Georgia
Kostas Kalokairinos		(as Konstadinos Kalokairinos)
Antonis Alexiou
Periklis Lianos	...	Thanasis
Karafil Shena
Alexia Veronikiati	...	Angeliki
Yannis Zouganelis	...	Giannis
Anna Vagena	...	Athina
Dimitra Hatoupi	...	District Attorney

Also Known As:

The King (International: English title)

Runtime:

Greece:130 min

Country:

Greece

Language:

Greek

Color:

Color

Sound Mix:

Dolby Digital

Company:

Art Factory

Soundtrack:

Nanourisma

Great movie...

After having seen a lot of Greek movies I feel very suspicious against most of them. But after watching this I felt astonished. The movies is great without a big try. You cannot claim that the screenplay is so great or the photography is perfect or something technical. It's a real story and it is happening in Greek rural areas in places forgotten from God. The movie is like a punch in the stomach and I would really wish that things are not like this. It obviously talks about the xenophobia of the Greek people (the ignorance)to anything different. The problem of this guy is not that he is an ex-convicted. The problem is that he is not one of these people. He is different and they do not want them (that's why all the good things he is doing turn boomerang to him). And also speaks about the apathy of the people, because there are some people who are against the hunting of the King, but they do not dare to say their opinion. In the end you can clearly see the hypocrisy of the society being religious and trying to act like God says, but at the same time acting so unfairly to the King. This shows how easily people rationalize their feelings or their beliefs according to the established system. In the end you can have a positive lesson from this very bad story, meaning that you can understand and be part of this society only if you want to become one of them. If you want to remain different and even alone, you are lost (and it is not far from reality) I think it is tragic that the story is real and this should be a bell for everybody. No comment for the main actor because he is already given an award and I believe that his play was great. Small comment for Hatzisavvas (plays the policeman), he is like a dinosaur, he has played a lot of roles and I'm sure that this role for him was very easy but he plays it so great that you cannot deny him a big bravo. I definitely recommend this movie to anybody who wants to see a good Greek movie.