The Pirate

It is real easy to critic this film. But it is not exactly fair. Because it gives a large story in decent manner. For Catherine Deneuve as Catherine the Great and for the hard work of Sebastian Koch. For noble idea and for the interesting manner to reflect it. Sure, it is not great, remarkable or memorable. But, in each scene you feel the taste of salted sea and, in few, you imagine the taste of caviar. So, a pure Greek film, a pure Greek story.

Nice attempt, though it is obvious it needed better writing. Very good performances by Koch and Bioto,excellent direction of photography. What is more, is the fact that it is worth seeing it even though it goes very abruptly from scene to scene. Very good music by Minos Matsas.The poor part of the story is the supporting performances which are rather shallow, and not analyzed. Smaragdis, is a good director, decent, but he has never been in the position of creating a great and momentary film. Excellent editing by George Mavropsaridis, may be the best Greek editor at this time in Greek movie industry. Cameos are made by a number of well known Greek actors but the extensive use of English language during the film is not a beneficial factor of the movie.

Stunning film, which provokes a multitude of sentiments throughout its length, from laughter to cry, bliss to mild horror. Surprising, exciting and well made. Great cinematography, some beautiful shots of the Greek sea. A complex story made clear even for the ignorant (of the History behind it) to understand. The life of a hero from birth to death fits perfectly in a very carefully constructed scenario, which is in line with real events of his life and his time. And even if it's made to look like a 'fairy tale' for kids the film itself assures you it is not. Very good cast, a combination of international actors adapting difficult roles and performing them well. I felt it contains the 'theatrical stage element' as many other Greek productions do. Overall, honest with the viewer, it helps you stay a viewer enhancing your critical thought about what you are watching, giving you time to process it. And above all, the first 30 minutes give you more satisfaction than the series of The Pirates of the Caribbean all together! I would watch it again.

Granted the move wasn't the best I have ever seen, and could have been better. If you take everything into consideration such as the limited budget and the complexity of the topic I think they did a good job of telling a very interesting story. Being Greek myself I had a very general idea of the topic prior to watching this film. It did a decent job of giving us the basics in the limited time available. You should watch this move and then do some research on the history to get a better understanding of what place.

I think a number of people are missing the moral of the story that is that your home is always where your heart is.

I don't wont to be spoiler but watch it regardless of its short coming and I am sure you will enjoy it.

I will agree with tinakewy's review. The screenplay was confusing a lot. I liked the actors a lot, especially the Greeks who were very serious with their roles. They didn't look like the usual Greek actors. I also really liked the mother of Varvakis when she came down to earth to talk with him. Her expressions and her eyes were very beautiful.

I would like to mention some technical issues that I noticed. Is it possible to have Out of Focus shots? There were lots of shots like this and there weren't a screenplay reason. It was a technical mistake. Even if the budget was low, controlling Focus is a basic thing. In some cases the video editing was a bit disturbing, too. You could tell the cuts. Also, the dubbing was noticeable in some cases.

I would really like to watch a great story, a great film as a Greek. But it wasn't that great.

Thank you.