Winona

Pretentious lines, soulless recital of dialogue (which may perhaps work in Giorgos Lanthimos' films but in this case it just feels cheap), pop-culture references and name-dropping just for the sake of it. Just because the colours look pretty it doesn't necessarily mean that this films conveys the atmosphere and spirit of a lazy summer day. Just because something is shot on 16mm film, it doesn't equal great filmmaking. Definitely not worth sitting through this so you can get a semblance of plot for the last 15 or so minutes.

The movie as a whole is not bad, the director though tried his best to do something a little bit unusual, a little bit confusing, i dont know exactly how to describe it without spoiling the movie but i got the feeling that it was tiring. The idea behind the movie is very good, especially in a emotional and psychological dimension. The problem for me is that the director overdid it with some lines and some scenes which were totally unnecessary, didnt help the plot they were used just to be used. A typical example of Art only for Art. Also this confusion between weird lines and weird scenes makes it hard for normal person to understand the movie, which is a pity because the movie as is said is good, but in a way it selfdestructs!

I really wanted to watch this one. The Boy (the director, acotr and the man behind the soundtrack is Alexandros Voulgaris, who is also a Greek singer called "The Boy". I learned about his songs the summer that past and I started taking a good look at his recent work and although it is totally weird and alienating, it was so fascinating and captivating, underneath the quircky lyrics and complex melody, there lied an honest person with a vision and a heart. That was what I got from his recent film, Winona, a story about 4 girls that spend their day in the beach doing what 4 girls usually do-tlak, play, sing , enjoy, swim, laugh and do dump things. I love this film. It just...it's such a lovely and easy-going film to seat through and it is a unique emotional journey.

Firslty, the visual storytelling. The movie was shot with a kodak 16mm film using film and it looks gorgeous. This movie manages to master the art of portraying a certain time at a certain season with certain people. This film IS summer anc I have not seen any other film portraying the colours and the melancholy of summer so vividly before ( ok , maybe Call me by your name). The sun, the sand, the sea, the clouds , the flowers, its texture is so soft and beatiful.

The dialogue is pretty lose from start to finish, but that's not bad at all. It's point is to portray a summer day and the relationships of the characters. It feels really playful and fun evne if there is no actual order of events or a clear view of the story, but that offers for a more relaxing movie experience. The dialogue blends fantasy with reality and it's vastly humorous and funny. It is an astonisihngly new way of blending hypothetical fantasieswhile telling a story. But, under the fantasy-based dialogue lies a sadness and this applies to the film in general. It is fun and has the summer shine, but it is also a melancholic pitcure and a haunting memoir of conversations, laughs, sadness,wonder and loss.

I wathced this film at Thessaloniki International Film Festival and the director and the cast were there to share their experience and answer to our questions. He said that the film has plenty of music because he really loves musical adn he lasways wanted to make one and although this movie is not a musical, musc is always present and adds a certain feeling to every scene. The songs are great and the score is magical. Also, the director is actually a really humble and cool guy. I asked for an autograph and he was so humble that he did not want to sign and I had plenty of conversaitons with him and he is really authentic and true and interesting. I look forward to experiencing more of his films- I actually watched Pink and it was really good and personal- and to his music and I believe htat Greek films should become more known to the public because there a lot of inspiring voices out there that need to be heard and The Boy is no exception. What a perfect day!

Winona is shiny, gorgeous, crispy, melancholic, salty and sad See it with sun-glasses and while making castles on the sand

Fought to stay awake through it.

Seemed like mediocre writers generated large volumes of inane, vapid dialogue hoping that some it would be good enough for the final script and all of it got used, even though almost none of it was any good.

"Winona" (2019) is one of those films that you have a strong suspicion they will be really bad right from the first few minutes....and they don't let you down. Loaded with cacophonous music and nonsensical dialogue, the film plays like a bad imitation of Lanthimos, or maybe a failed experimental work of the 1960s. And at the end it tries to wring genuine emotion, which is very hard to do out of something so - deliberately - stilted and posè. At least the four women range from attractive (the redhead) to gorgeous (the one in the red bikini top), which, along with the secluded-beach setting, are the only things keeping you watching, really. 0.5 out of 4.