Boulmetis thought outside the box to create one of the more inventive, innovative films in recent memory.
1968 is a documentary, and at the same time it is not strictly a documentary. It is a docu-drama, but unlike any other docu-drama I have seen. It is a regular narrative movie, but has elements not usually found in regular releases. Boulmetis has mixed all these elements of docu-drama, documentary, and regular release into a combination that works.
The movie concerns the victory of AEK, a Greek basketball team, in 1968 over Czechoslovakia. While the event is practically unknown outside Greece, it has a special place in the ethnic memory. The victory came at a time when the Greek nation needed a boost in morale the most. The previous year, Colonels in the Greek army engineered a coup; it was a time of apprehension, uncertainty, and fear.
Boulmetis has created a time capsule of that match. He includes archival photographs ad recordings of radio play-by-play or the match. He interviews of the participants who look back fifty years ago at the event. He has also assembled a troupe of actors portraying vignettes of ordinary Greeks following the game and sharing the glory. His attention to detail is extraordinary. For those around at the time, or vaguely familiar with the way things were then, it is like going through a time machine.
This movie stands on its own cinematic merits. It is English subtitled. 1968 is a completely enjoyable film.
