espresso317

A friend of mine saw this film at the Venice Film Festival last year and she recommended it to me as a "beautifully crafted" story. I rented the DVD having in mind that and the fact that it was about two young girls, from different backgrounds who meet during summer somewhere in the English countryside. After watching it, I agreed that it was very well produced and that what made it special were some excellent (and almost poetic) scenes. Tag-lines, adventure, strange or weird things happening do not exist in this film. However watching it I remembered the friends I had a as a teenage and how during that time, they felt as something life-changing ( and some of them were!) The portrayal of the two teenage girls is good. It was interesting to see why they acted they way they did and how that related to their social background. In that aspect the director does a good job. Their sexual relation is portrayed not as a main issue of the film but as something that is part of their mutual exploration of life during that summer. I loved the music, it gave the film that extra "european" touch. All in all, after watching it , I was content by it but at the same time I felt that some parts of it could have been more dynamic.

You get a bunch of really good looking actors, nice settings ( a top floor house in downtown Athens and a perfect house in the north suburbs), you use at least a scene from US sitcom Friends in every episode and you have "Shut your eyes" ( another stolen title of course, from the Spanish movie this time). But it is fun to see, it is SO surreal you can't believe this is transmitted!! For example, is it possible to work for a living as an average Greek and have a great house in the north suburbs. And how come does Mr Papakaliatis gets all the women in every series he stars in? However I must give credit to Mr. Papakaliatis for the music, which is carefully chosen every time with unique tunes!