List by David Valkenet
Something Interesting is Happening in Greece
I saw L with director Babis Makridis in attendance a few days ago which got me thinking about the films coming out of Greece over the past few years.
In the Q&A after the film he was quick to quell any notion that there is a 'Greek New Wave' but rather offered the idea that there is a small number of independent filmmakers in Greece that for the longest time have been waiting for government funding, and in light of the latest financial situation they've realised there is no money and they have to just go out and make movies by themselves.
Influences range from Bertold Brecht to Theo Angelopoulos as far as I can tell, and yet the films feel completely new and fresh. I haven't seen all these but I'd like to watch more. There must be more, so let me know which I have missed.
Do many of these use handheld cameras?
I'm interested in this sort of cinema but my motion sickness is quite a handicap with some modern independent films.
Anatonomasia, many of them aren't. Dogtooth, L, Alps and Attenberg all feature a steady locked off camera for most of the shots. Boy Eating the Bird's Food is more handheld and the focus goes in and out (deliberately) so maybe be aware of that before you watch it.
Thanks very much for that!
No problem! Also, I guess something that is good to anticipate is that most of the films deal with sex very frankly and at times graphically.
Haha, goodness, I have no issue whatsoever with explicit graphic sex in films. I'm anything but prudish, though by the standards of the average 21st century viewer I am squeamish about violence.
Torture scenes I can do without ... I understand Dogtooth has some icky stuff in but the importance of the film's scenario overrides my need to avoid that.
I was particularly thinking of The Boy Eating the Bird's Food. I saw it in the cinema and there were some walk outs during a specific scene. Though I get why that scene was there, I thought the way it was presented was a little gratuitous.
I probably just read about it (won't post spoiler here)... It simply wouldn't occur to me to be offended by that and am stunned people would actually walk out over such a thing. Outside the Christian Midwest, anyway.
I read Hamsun's Hungera year ago so would be interested to see the film. If it's mostly handheld camera I'd best not though.
Yeah, I wasn't offended either but I thought I'd mention it just in case seeing as other people were. Maybe it'll be worth tracking down on VOD or online somewhere so you can easily turn it off if the camera gets too much. I liked the movie quite a bit and it's an interesting contrast stylistically to the other Greek films in what people seem to have dubbed the "Greek Weird Wave".
I started playing an excerpt on YouTube now. 41 seconds in: nausea already apparent, sadly. And it was just the guy in a red hoodie watching an old lady walking into a church.
The Guardian had a slightly crass but interesting article last year about these films, which first got me interested... I'm starting to catch up on years' worth of viewing now so should get round to them before too long.
Haha, that's a shame. You seem to have a really low tolerance as that is one of the steadier parts of the film. You should be fine with the other three films I mentioned earlier as they have very static shots.
Thanks for the link, I'll check out the article!