Cliffs of Freedom

I expected a sily movie. It was not.

There was conflict, there was goodness there was betrayal. It wasn't perfect. Obviously a low budget movie. But you will like it.

As a HS world history teacher I would highly recommend this user-friendly supplement exemplar for a unit on the rise of a nationalist movement against imperialist oppression. The rarely told story of the 19th C Greek revolt against the Ottoman Empire is beautifully rendered here, replete with all the various points of view of the various levels of participant in both sides of the struggle. Feminists will love the female hero leader. It is rarely simplistic and satisfyingly complex. The characters are refreshingly multi-dimensional and motives are well developed. Costumes and battle scenes are appropriately juicy for a period piece of modest origins. Great story based on a novel. I was pleasantly surprised at how engaging it is! Great stand-out performances by the cast in general but especially from the notables Christopher Plummer, Patti Lupone, Billy Zane et al. A fun 2'15" film.

This story was severely handicapped by poor dialogue and choppy directing. There's some good acting, but it has to overcome so much poor writing. Yet, the story is compelling, I wish it had been told better.

The Greek War for Independence is not covered much (or at all) in the US. While this is not a strict telling of history, this historical "Romeo & Juliet"-esque romance/drama is set against a backdrop of this war in the early 1800s when Greece finally moved to open rebellion after 400 years of occupation by the Ottoman Empire. Overall enjoyable if you can forgive some of the heavy-handed tropes from historical romances that creep in.

The movie has some major problems regarding the way the Orthodox Faith and Church is presented:

1) The actors don't do their cross in the Orthodox way. 2) The Orthodox priests are presented as supporters of the Ottoman Empire and totally against Greek independence, which is historically VERY WRONG! As we know from History, the Orthodox priests not only supported the Greek revolution against the Turks but also took part in the battles.