The Ogre of Athens

josé neves

3,5. 35mm. A film that begins beautifully inside an office with a sliding camera before a scene that introduces the theme, the non-existence of the main character (extraordinary Dinos Ilipoulos), with a conversation that reminds a Gogol's farce, in which an overcoat symbolizes the place of poverty. The fact that it's mostly a film with a conventional language doesn't deny its conviction that ...

dionysus67

Although it is not Koundouros' best film, 'The Ogre' manages to impress because it takes risks with closures and the density invested in the frames, mostly in the sleazy bar, which vibrates with American and Greek rhythms, rendering the amazing Iliopoulos a venerated ornament among the underworld (and Greece at large) but also a coveted feminized object. The martyrology completes itself in a disturbingly painful end.

kartina obskura

2,5 it tries to address some serious issues and appeal to wide masses (i would think especially greek) in the same time, with its comedy of errors, satire, characters. there are examples when it works. this isn't one of them, imo. i loved the scene when he's dancing and the ending scene tho.

FISCHER

Oeuvre curieuse, commise par un important cinéaste hellénique, qui balance entre la comédie et le drame et réussit à imposer un ton très singulier... www.cinefiches.com

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http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=XTDJum5DCMk

Blue K, Custodian of the Cinema

One of the truly great unknown gems of world cinema.

Zane Curtis-Olsen

A neorealist masterpiece.