Lumsdal Good , But It Is Overrated By Some

BroadcastChic Excellent, a Must See

Contentar Best movie of this year hands down!

Catangro After playing with our expectations, this turns out to be a very different sort of film.

higherall7 Found this film when videotapes could still be rented out of the Main Library. Now it's DVDs you can rent all week for nearly nothing but a late fee. What intrigued me was that here was a film that boasted an experience that paralleled some aspects of the African American experience. Greeks singing their own version of the Blues! What a concept!Thoroughly enjoyed this film and how it moved so seamlessly to me through the historical upheavals of 20th Century Greek Culture. More than looking for points of correspondence between Greek and African American cultures, I felt like I took a step forward in understanding the angst and pathos and finally tragic underpinnings of the Greek way of life. From the first frame, you can feel the overcrowding in the cities and the destitute conditions that are being experienced simply viewing the desolate aspect of a cafe where there are more people singing on the stage than can be found in the apathetic audience. Later, there is the unforgettable scene where the female lead sings one of the most stirring blues songs i have ever heard. Aretha Franklin has nothing to worry about, but the haunting tenor of 'Kaigomai-Kaigomai' sung to a packed house of rapt, sober individuals and couples will stay with me for the rest of my life.Director Costas Ferris exercises a sophisticated eye in composing compelling montages and yet it all seems to me to serve to exorcise the immemorial Greek Spirit at the end which often to outside observers seems to express the belief that it is fated for tragedy. The skillful exposition of a music of outcasts that seems to make tolerable and at times reach above and beyond the spiritual and material impoverishment of these urban Greeks is done with a unique 'elan by Stavros Xarhakos. Sotiria Leonardou comes across at times as a Greek Garbo, absorbing to look at and to listen to as she moves through the episodes of her character's life.The ensemble of characters have an easygoing, natural relationship with each other. They are at once like people I have known in my neighborhood and at the same time exotic and unlike any people I have known. This is one of those films that definitely rewards repeated viewing and invites a person to make a serious study of the Greek people in ancient and modern times.

Boer Poel I was very pleased to find 'Rembetiko' on DVD after so many years! Back then, it only was on for a short time at my local cinema/art-house (Rotterdam, Holland)/ right after, I was *very* impressed and checked for another view, but it was the very last one performance, alas. Since then, this movie became some sort of a myth in my memory. After seeing the film after almost 25 years it feels very different... (now I'm older I know more in what way Greece also suffered during WWII/ and their drama is still not very well known in Europe, they kept the horror more quiet, IMO). So this knowledge was an extra for me in 2007.Therefore I disagree with the former poster "dionysianartist", the emphasis on the Nazi-period gives the movie a wonderful twist. Perhaps this way, it also returns the feeling to the true blues of 1920's Rembetica.My DVD came with these subtitles; *Greek *English *French *Spanish *Italian *German *Turkish (No further extra's).Check it out; great film, with much of the Greek sphere and feelings involved.John.

dionysianartist my first experience of this film was its soundtrack, which my dad had on tape, and had played every now and then. FANTASTIC SOUNDTRACK, XARCHAKOS IS A Genius. The music in this film captures the mood of the real rebetiko perfectly, but unfortunately i have to say that after hearing this soundtrack, i really did expect a lot more than i saw in the film itself. some of the acting was OK, including leonardou's, but much of the filming and editing was heavy handed; the over-saturated colour of the film was also too much for me, and the German occupation either had too much focus for its ultimate importance, or was not developed enough to have the importance that might have been intended. The reason that i haven't totally scrapped this film is for a few reasons. even though the film is not as smoothly cohesive as it could have been, and was a bit inconsistent, there were some very well produced "moments"; individual parts of the film where everything worked perfectly (probably my favorite part was the final scene. in my opinion, this is the only part of the film which really cooperated with the soundtrack. i got chills down my spine). Another thing is that the actors playing smaller characters dd a better job of acting than the protagonist, for example, the old man who dances the slow zeibekiko (and by the way PJA, it's zeibeKIKO, not zeibeTIKO.)

Dimos Dimoulas Considered to be one of the most powerful and emotional Greek movies, Rembetiko focuses on the life of an individual woman,a real person and through her personal story, it retells the story of Greece,from 1920 to 1955:the national disaster in Asia Minor,the one million refugees who came to Greece,the World War II,the Nazi occupation,the Civil War.The tragedy and the glory of a nation during the century.And all these bound with the music of rembetiko,the music of the outcasts.Great direction,great performances,great music.A voyage to history of the first half of the 20th century, but also a voyage to the origins of rembetiko.Realistic and dreamy.An original Greek epic.