Xenia

This is not a real review, it should be understood more as a collection of impressions on the film.

This film is almost indescribable because it is a modern odyssey where two brothers cement their relationship on a journey to find their father and somehow grow and establish themselves, this whole journey is dotted with picturesque characters who capture the attention and all the stories are interesting because the main stuff is this journey, but everything around it is very interesting from start to finish. In the film all the nooks and crannies of the protagonists' personalities are explored in a beautiful way, even if the main protagonist is the young boy, his brother also has a large space managed very well in the film.

The movie «Xenia» (with the accent on the i, but I will not tell you what it is in the story) is more Aristotelian than other Greek adventures of recent vision, with a "secure structure" built on cause and effect, and it is also more sentimental, more melo-Greekly passionate... And very gay in tone (by courtesy of director Panos Koutras), although no sexual orientation is the core of the plot. It has to do with two brothers born in Crete, children of an Albanian woman who has just died and a Greek man who abandoned them. Suddenly the younger one realizes that his brother and he were not recognized, they have no documents, they are strangers in their own land, so out they go in search of their (s.o.b.) father, while some dreams are sought after and a maturing process leads them to their goals. Excellently played by the two leading actors, Kostas Nikouli and Nikos Gelia, the film combines the harsh realities of xenophobia and privation with beautiful scenes, like a brief night cruise by boat, while the boys sleep on board and on the shore the vessel is escorted by the entities in their fantasies during childhood, a period signed by abuse (David Lynch would applaud) and some surprises like Dido, the rabbit. «Xenia» won the Hellenic Film Academy awards for Best Motion Picture, Direction, Screenplay, Supporting Actor, Editing and Costumes; and the Best Film Award at the festivals of Gijón, Rio de Janeiro, and Chicago.

One of the very good modern Greek movies. Xenia is the evidence that a new line of Greek cinema is much needed and it can be successful. Xenia is a movie about everything that's going on in Greece this last decade. Homophobia, racism and far right political parties synthesize the core of this movie. Two brothers take a journey to try and find their place in the chaos that exists in modern Greece, as they feel like strangers both in the country that they were born into and in the country they come from. The relationship of the brothers is the centerpiece of the movie with Kostas Nikouli stealing every single frame with his charm and talent. Nikos Gelia is a good lead as well and the movie manages to capture the real emotions and bonds forming between them. In the end I was left with uncertainty but also with joy and hope for the future.

Two brothers looking for their father after the death of mother. A realistic - poetic portrait of Greece realities, beautiful acting, well used symbols and a seductive story of self definition, growing up, family, friends, connections and expectations, with fair influences of Fellini and Almodovar. For many reasons, a surprising film for high honesty first. But beautiful and smart constructed, cold and touching.

This movie isn't good. The acting is laughably bad, especially by the main character. The runtime could have been cut in half, and the movie would likely have been better. Also, there are a couple of unnecessary cringy dance scenes (you'll know it when you see it). The whole bunny-related trope's meaning isn't really explained and it just leaves viewers confused. Further, there's a gun-related scene that makes very little sense (I won't mention specifics in order to avoid spoilers). In a nutshell, it fails to engage viewers, it has bad acting, and it's unnecessarily drawn-out.