Over 380 movies – first screened or re-released – distributed in Greek cinemas this year, it will soon say goodbye to us. A number indicating quantity, but not necessarily quality. The year was tough, tickets weren't depressed or discouraged, venues with tradition as appropriate They will say goodbye to us at the end of the year. The same thing happened to her already Opera A few months ago, it reopened with new management (thankfully!). However, as the year draws to a close, with the future dim this year, here we remember the films that delighted us both in terms of aesthetics and the way they handled their subject matter.
The following top ten list is for exclusively distributed films based on first run 1The From January till today Who reads these lines?
whale (The WhaleUSA, 2022) | 1/1/23
As the unrecognizable 300-pound “human whale” (perpetually on a couch, isolated in a cabin, faced with the mistakes of his life and a step toward death), Brendan Fraser won an Oscar for his truly explosive performance in this stream. Towards Despair But Recovery, directed by Darren Aronofsky, is a move to manage the complexity of wounded mental worlds. An adaptation of Samuel Hunter's (who also wrote the screenplay) highly successful play, “The Whale” is a multi-layered and deeply unpleasant film, but one that makes you feel like you're addicted and forced to watch it. You can't do otherwise.
Behind the Straw (Greece/ Germany/ North Macedonia, 2022) | 19/1/23
Filmed in the Greater Gilgit region and one of the few Greek films to show real and substantial interest in the landscape of Lake Toirani (much of it is set there), this film is Asimina Preetros's exemplary debut in special fiction cinema. . By dividing the film into episodes, each with a different perspective of the members of the three-member family (Father – Stathis Stamoulakatos, Mother – Eleni Ouzounidou and teenage daughter – Eugenia Lavda) Prodrew created a film. The ever-controversial issue of the rigid social structures of provincial Greece, the unpleasant consequences of the economic crisis, illegal immigration and the hypocrisy of the Church.
Spirits of Inisher (The Banshees of InisherinUK/ USA/ Ireland 2022)| 23/2/23
Despite the unpleasant (at places) theme, this film is the most “feelgood” of the year going out, with scenes that can shock and chill. It deals with the aftermath of a rivalry between two Irish former friends as their country erupted in civil war in the early years of the last century. Friends Colin Farrell and Brendan Gleeson were nominated for an Oscar, but lost out to director and screenwriter Martin McDonagh, who won in the original screenplay category. McDonagh co-created “Mission to Bruges” with the same lead duo. The chemistry between the three is amazing.
The Blue Kaftan (El Kaftan Azul, Morocco/ France/ Belgium/ Denmark, 2022) | March 30, 2023
Subtly nuanced, steeped in shadows, and in a melancholia that's even more fascinating to watch, Moroccan director Mariam Tousani's fictional debut follows the lives of a simple everyday couple (Saleh Bakri and Loubna Azabal) who run a small tailoring business. Shop in Morocco.. The plot is nothing more than a plan, but Tousani is interested in recording the reactions and behaviors that can arise from the biggest problems (like health) and the most trivial (like an argument with a customer). In fact, not so much is done, but in a strange way, like a bee, looking for pollen attracts the gaze.
Oppenheimer (Oppenheimer, USA/England, 2023) | August 24, 2023
ohNot just one of the 10 best films of the year, but one of the most important films in modern 20th century American history made in the last – at least – 50 years. And there isn't another biographical drama about J, the scientist of the title. Robert Oppenheimer played by an apocalyptic Cillian Murphy • This would be a very easy thing for a director like Christopher Nolan. The film explores a wide range of themes – from the grandeur of science and the meaning of patriotism, to the moral impoverishment that guilt over a life-and-death decision like betrayal leads you to.
Anatomy of a Fall (Anatomie d'une chute, France, 2023) | August 31, 2023
One of the reasons why Gistine Trier's film (Polme d'Or at the last Cannes Festival) will win you over is that it questions the meaning of truth in a relevant, vivid way, pointing to something that we all live everyday and actually live. We blame and let it always lead us in the wrong direction: our orientation, when there is a tragedy in the middle, towards a conclusion that is not supported by solid evidence. Because the extraordinary Sandra Huler will find herself on the bench accused of her husband's death. From there Triad would organize a film that harshly criticized the controversial issue of pre-trial “punishment”.
Phonisa (Greece, 2023) | November 23, 2023
If we leave aside Cariophilia Garabetti's vivid interpretation of the title role – the mother and grandmother Hadula, who turns her children (and not only) into murderers on an island in the 19th and early 20th centuries. A village that “saves” them from the unbearable suffering they have experienced all their lives – Eva Nathena's first fiction film, we will see, is not a “failure” in any field, but an example to follow: this is the way. with which want Not many “plays” are “elevated” to Greek films as an iconic work of Greek literature, respecting the audience first and their source second.
Green Border (Green Border, Poland/ France/ USA/ Czech Republic/ Belgium/ Germany/ Turkey, 2023) |23/11/23
The drama of a Syrian family trying to find salvation in Europe is captured in the nervy and brilliant black-and-white filmmaking of veteran Polish director Aniska Holland, who captures each and every one of the family's unimaginable travails on the border between Belarus and Poland. An account of the adventure of a migrant who gets help only from a group of female activists. It was filmed after a thousand toils and hardships as it was vigorously fought by the Polish government, but won the Jury Prize at its world premiere at this year's Venice Film Festival.
Fallen Leaves (Kuolleet lehdet, Finland/ Germany, 2023) | 30/11/23
Aki Kaurismäki, the only Finnish creator who made unforgettable films like “Havre Harbour”, “The Other Side of Hope” and “Lights at Dusk”, is a wonderfully emotional film about loneliness, love, hope, music and cinema. The two main characters, two quiet everyday people (Alma Posti, Jussi Vatanen), although they are not so young anymore, join hands and create their bright horizon in a dark world. At the same time, Kaurismaki comments on contemporary social issues such as job insecurity, the alienation and isolation of the world's majority, war, and crisis, with fine lines that leave deep scars within us. That medium is cinema.
region of interest (The zone of curiosityEngland/ USA, 2023) | 14/12/23
The best film of the year, which premiered in Cannes in May but will be released in Greece in the last month of 2023, is one of the most powerful films about the Jewish genocide because it captures the horror from afar. Without presenting what was happening inside the concentration camps but what was happening outside. The daily life of the German conquerors, their meager practices, their passion for “nothing” but muttering “nothing,” and millions of human lives at a breathless distance, create a different picture of horror. But it's similar to the power of the masterpiece “Son of Saul” (2015), which immerses the viewer directly in fire and blood.
