Les gens d'en face

George Panoussopoulos' second film -the first being the underrated 'Taxidi tou melitos' [1979]- is an interesting piece of art; it is 'Athens in my head', as the director himself once claimed. That much is true: The city of Athens 'painted' in this film hasn't got much to do with the real Athens of the 80s. Athens was more than bikers, transvestites and weirdos! Anyway, 'Oi Apenanti' remains one of the most interesting films from the Greek 80s, and one of the first to establish the underground style of the Greek 80s cinematography: dark moods, slow development, hardly any plot etc. -there were of course the ancestors; check out 'Ta kourelia tragoudoun akoma' [1979] by the recently deceased Nikolaidis.

The plot of the film exists only for one reason: To justify the very existence of the film! It's the following: A lonely and pretty much weird guy -Aris Retsos- spends most of his life in his apartment-room.He owns a telescope and one of his most beloved occupations is to watch the people from the apartment on the opposite side of the road. As time goes by, he becomes obsessed with the mother of the family living on that apartment. He telephones her anonymously and she wants to know who he is. Meanwhile, the rest of the film reflects the Athens inside Panoussopoulos' head! The finale occurs as the traditional tragic 'lysis'; he meets the woman for one moment, they make out, then she leaves, and he returns in his lonely and pointless life.

If there is one point in this film, that would be the following: Life in the urban early-80s Athens is meaningless! People spend their time doing pretty much nothing. The main character could easily symbolize the inner self of the Greek youth of the time.

Some last remarks: 1) The photography -done by Panoussopoulos himself- is the starting point of a new artistic expression. 2) The actors are generally good. Tha only problem is that Retsos' speech isn't very clear! 3) The music is composed by Stavros Logaridis, once a member of the legendary soft-rock group POLL -along with Robert Williams and the infamous Kostas Tournas.

To be brief, if you haven't seen it yet, check it out. It is worth it.

This movie is really a dream-like sequence of the Athens nightlife (and lowlife) in a very perturbed of times, the start of the eighties. The absolute magnificence of the movie lies on the audio track. During the whole movie, the radio of the era is playing, as part of the plot, commenting on the feelings of the main characters. Apart from the classic rock references, which reveals the well common truth that Greece, even at the start of the eighties, was stuck to the late 60s in terms of the "rock sound" (Dylan, C.C.R. e.t.c.), you can hear the radio station of the American NATO base, which is responsible for the most sophisticated rock you could ever hear at that time (and up until '88, when it stopped broadcasting). Generally, the vibe of the movie is very representative of the times. The dialogs are genuine, the clothes, the hairstyles are classic. Through the eyes of Aris Retsos (Το Φάντασμα - nicknamed "The Phantom") you can really observe what was going on on Athens at the time. The gang that steals motorcycles, the bunch of kids that watch the dirty movies smoking' and mating', the scene at the teenage party (featuring "square" kids and "rockers" getting off on "I Was Made For Lovin' You", resemble to the most credible documentary. You really have to search for that movie.

If you have lived in Athens it is most probable that you will have similar experiences with the characters in this movie. One gets the impression that people wander around doing nothing most of the time, but it is only an idea. There are scenes that reflect very accurately life in Athens, no doubt Panousopoulos is in his element. What I really like in this film is his way of using these familiar images, scenes etc to talk about more important things - solitude, solidarity, identity...

If you think that the (in)famous "Greek Weird Wave" started only in 2009 with Yorgos Lanthimos' "Dogtooth", think again: here's a pretty weird Greek film from 1981. It's sort of a Greek "Rear Window", but without any of the thriller elements. It is also a period snapshot of Athens and its youth in the early 1980s (expect lots of Pacman and bike racing). Giorgos Panousopoulos seems to be a better director than writer: there is not much story here - the narrative is rather loose - but the film is a stylish, absorbing, hypnotic mood piece. It brought something new to Greek cinema when it came out. *** out of 4.

Apart of a classic movie this realistic gem gives "Aris Retsos" another opportunity to prove his talent . Semi clothed or nude on bed ,during a hot Greek summer , explores his visions and his passions as a young character leading to a "decadance" that has to deal with unrealized depression and hidden agoraphobia in a contrast of sunny apartment or strolling the nightlife streets of Athens .Probably the best of this actor ,a realistic film that worth to see . This style of modern Greek films echoes background politics of sixties and seventies in Greece and tenderness among ambitions , solitude and fate . Similar to "Till the boat" and "Evdokia" by Aleksis Damianos and newer ones "at the edge of town" and "strella" , gives you the impression that you have met the protagonists and they live next to you or against your apartment .