Feature film
Rembetiko
Ρεμπέτικο
Kostas Ferris · 1983
Synopsis
Smyrna, 1917: in the back room of a café, the wife of the rebetiko singer Panagís gives birth to a daughter, Maríka. The catastrophe of 1922 throws the family into the misery of the refugees; the father kills the mother, and the child grows up with a conjuror, then with his friend the violinist Georgákis. Having become a singer in Bámbis's company, she lives through the Occupation, the civil war and the years that follow, while the history of the country unfolds behind her.
Context
Its author had been carrying the project since 1958, when the actor Kazákos suggested ending it with the funeral of the singer Maríka Nínou; he wanted to follow a tour and leave History in the background, and Angelópoulos's film about a travelling troupe, which did the opposite, convinced him to reverse his structure. He wrote the screenplay with Sotiría Leonárdou, who plays the lead; the heroine is never named Nínou. The Greek Film Centre and public television produced it; the music is by Stávros Xarchákos, the lyrics by Níkos Gátsos.
Who it is for
Nearly two hours, in colour and in Greek, with many sung numbers; historical events are conveyed through black-and-white archive footage.
Prizes and reception
Silver Bear at Berlin and special jury prize at Valencia in 1984; at Thessaloniki, a year earlier, best film ex aequo and prize for best actress.
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