Kala krymmena mystika, Athanasia

You probably know already what this film is about so I am not going to bother with the story. It is supposed to be based on true facts but I don't think this is enough to convince anybody to watch it. Athanasia is a really boring and cliché-ridden melodrama, similar to thousands of stories that the TV serials tell. Giorgos Karamichos is not so convincing here and makes me wonder why he is even considered to be a good actor. Vangelis Mourikis who is probably Greece's finest actor of today, is wasted here. You have to be a total hack (talentless filmmaker) to have somebody like Mourikis taking part in your film and wasting him like that. The cinematography is kind of flat too- would look great for a television movie but leaves much to be desired since this is a feature film. This is better than rubbish such as Soula Ela Xana or Alter Ego but still doesn't mean much. It is a film that will appeal to old people so you can probably suggest it to your mom or grandma to watch. I give it 2 stars thanks to Mourikis and thanks to some well-composed shots.

Movies that play with a mystery or a secret, that is really going to affect everyone involved have a heavy burden (pun intended). And while the overall story might deserve the "7 out of 10" rating it currently has here on IMDb, there are a few factors, that unfortunately pull the movie down.

One of the biggest being the actors. Well some of them. While the movie has special drive and has real emotion, when we see the flashbacks, it crumbles or even comes to a full stop, when we see the "present". The flashbacks might have the same (slow) pace as the present, but you really feel what the characters are going through. The present (especially the main actress of the present storyline) does not give you emotion. Even at the end, it feels "fake" and takes away any impact the main (past) storyline could have had on you.

It's a real shame, but as beautiful as the (present) main actress is, she is not convincing. Even the older actors (in the present) get robbed of some of their emotions, because they have to speak in English, which clearly is not their first language. The story in the past reminds me of many great Greek tragedies and movies, therefor I liked it. But I have to judge the movie as a whole package and it can't quite make the cut ...