Xenia
- Director: Panos H. Koutras
- Writer: Panagiotis Evangelidis; Panos H. Koutras
- Producer: Alexandra Boussiou; Remi Burah
CGiii Comment
This won a few awards...incredible, considering the other films it was pitted against. Did we watch the same film as the award-givers?!?
After 5 minutes, the general consensus was that the character and the actor (Kostas Nikouli as Danny) should be eradicated from the face of the earth...promptly. Irritable bowel syndrome is a more pleasant experience than this little, antagonising, lollipop-sucking, rabbit-stroking, metaphorical monster. A performance that defies credibility. A performance that will arouse dormant violent tendencies.
Now, there is a saying...an actor is only as good as his/hers director...oops.
The story...there is a shred of a good premise, undocumented soon-to-be-deported half-Albanian brothers try to find their errant, wealthy Greek father...for a DNA test, Greek passports and a little money...sounds interesting. However, throw into the mix...a giant white rabbit (?!), Greece's version of the X-Factor, some cacophonous Eurovision-esque pop songs, a lurid script, that hideous performance...and that faint light of potential is extinguished - faster than an eye can blink.
Bold ambition is admirable when the required talent is available...otherwise, it becomes a catastrophic fiasco.
This is an award-winning fiasco.
Trailer...
The(ir) Blurb...
Strangers in their own birthplace, 16-year-old Danny and 18-year-old Odysseus cross the entire country in search of their Greek father, after their Albanian mother passes away. Determined to force him to acknowledge paternity, little do they know that the road to the much-coveted Greek citizenship is paved with ghosts from the past, adult savagery and a dream that needs to come true, no matter what. Reaching the end of this initiatory journey they eventually come of age even if Greece refuses to follow.
Cast & Characters
Kostas Nikouli as Danny;
Nikos Gelia as Odysseas;
Yannis Stankoglou as Lefteris;
Marissa Triandafyllidou as Vivi;
Aggelos Papadimitriou as Tassos;
Romanna Lobats as Maria-Sonia;
Patty Pravo as Patty Pravo;
Electra Leda Koutra as Antigone