Exodos 1826

Four years of research, study and work ... two different cities (Giannitsa and Thessaloniki) and a lot of love for Greek history needed to shoot the new film about the revolution of 1821. After 46 years from "Papaflessas" while we are approaching 200 years since the palligennesia our nation.

The film "Exodus 1826" describes the story of 120 men from Samarina, Grevena and the surrounding villages, who rushed to help in the Mesolongi Exit in April 1826.

It is an independent production. The direction and the script are by Vasilis Tsikaras

It all started about 4 years ago when the director, Vasilis Tsikiras, reading about the revolution of 1821, was particularly moved by the story of ... the children of Samarina, and he wanted to understand the verse of the folk song "Children of Samarina".

You wait for something better when the last Greek film about the revolution 1821 was in 70's.Excluding the great landscapes and the terrific cinematography,the acting was very poor and the direction doesn't have the real feeling. I was waiting for a climax that never came , too pity !

Such a brilliant film for its very low budget! Exodos 1826 is a emotional film that shows how brave the men back then were, not only they marched to help their compatriots with risk of being spotted and killed on their way from the Turkish/albanian troops, but also they knew that the Battle of Mesolongi was very difficult and of doubtful outcome!

Worthy sons of their Hellenic name and origin!

Bravo, we need more films like those

I have just spent 1hr and 15 mins of a 1hr.36min film... watching a group of men walking through beautiful Greek mountains and countryside. There were occasional stops for some rather stilted dialogue. The womenfolk spent about maybe 15 mins in the whole film bemoaning their men's absence... This is supposed to be a movie about a heroic group of Greeks marching to help Missolonghi fight the Turks. It could have been 'epic'... Instead, it turned into an 'epic' ...fight to stay awake. Walking, stopping, more walking. Night movement where the Greeks, in blazing white costumes...tried to remain unnoticed. To say I was both disappointed and unimpressed would probably sum it up. Greeks can occasionally make really good TV and cinema, crisis or no crisis. Loufa kai Paralagi, the TV series is a hoot, really funny, and stands repeated watching. The first movie spin off (not the movie original) Seirines sto Aigeo, was also funny. Then Serines sti Steria less so, and after that descent followed rapidly. This 'Exodos 26' is a case where promising material, a good story, could have been made really exciting and inspiring... but instead fell flatter than a pancake. I'd rather watch To Nisi TBH. Greeks could do with some really good cinematic/TV historical uplift. This is not it. Sadly, Greece has a tendency to produce boring, stupid, or crazy ('Weird Wave') cinema/TV. Another rare exception to this was Aggigma Psyhis. But the exceptions are so few and far between, I spend ages on the Greek Movies website trying to find exceptions, and largely failing. L&P is there, AP is there. So is this. It doesn't require an enormous budget to make a decent production. Just good actors, good script, and imaginative direction. Sadly, Greece, at present, while it might have the first, is sadly lacking in the other two. And I'm not the first to say this. Many of the fiercest critics of Greek TV/film are Greeks themselves.

The good : B. Tsikaras makes a movie with no budget and resources but he organizes a team of many people successfully and I respect that. Also the direction of photography is amazing, D. stampolis delivered a visually interesting story. The bad : everything else. The script, acting, directing, action.