Born in Mytilene (Lesbos Island) in 1941 and passed away in Athens in 2016. He studied film in Athens while working as an assistant director in Greek and international productions. From 1960 to 1973, he lived in Paris, where he studied at the Sorbonne. In 1973, he returned to Greece and directed his first film,The Colors of Iris, an instant classic of New Greek Cinema. He was one of the most original and prolific film makers of the New Wave of Greek Cinema. Developing his personal style, blending various genres—from comedy to crime films and from musicals to road movies—he directed 13 more films. His work focused on the lives of people in contemporary Greece, their interpersonal relationships, cinema itself, and art in general. His cinematic vision was characterized by humor and tenderness, with strong doses of irony and sarcasm about the human condition.
Old schoolmates attend a reunion party, an aviation engineer amongst them takes a trip down memory lane. He reminisces about his childhood and his extraordinary relationship with his cousin Marina. the sweet taste of love’s first kiss in his mouth. He recalls his first kiss and thirty years after that innocent peck on the lips, fate reunites two estranged soulmates. The viewer gets a glimpse of Greek society between 1955 and 1973.
CAST
George Corraface
Aggeliki Spiliopoulou
Anny Loulou
Alexandros Mylonas
Zoe Voudouri
Nikoletta Vlavianou
Tassos Palatzidis
CREDITS
DIRECTOR: Costas Kapakas
SCREENPLAY: Costas Kapakas
CINEMATOGRAPHY: Yannis Daskalothanassis
EDITING: Takis Yannopoulos
MUSIC: Panayotis Kalatzopoulos
SET & COSTUMES: Yorgos Georgiou, Alexndra Chorianopoulou, Maria Kontodima
SOUND Marinos Athanassopoulos
AWARDS
GIFFONI FILM FESTIVAL
Gold medal (Costas Kapakas)
FORT LAUDERDALE FILM FESTIVAL
Best Director (Costas Kapakas)
THESSALONIKI FILM FESTIVAL
Best Film
Best Debut Film Director (Costas Kapakas)
Best Screenplay (Costas Kapakas)
Best Actress (Anny Loulou)
Best Supporting Actor (Tassos Palatzidis)
REVIEWS
The first feature film of the director Kostas Kapakas, a brief history of Athens in the 1960s, is made with clarity of thought, perfection of European standards in all areas, attention to details (especially of the sets) and relative ease in the development of human relationships. It fits a bit into the “spray, wipe, done” logic to keep everyone satisfied. Mainly the viewers, even the most “difficult” ones. Also, structurally, it somewhat follows the recipe of the equally nostalgic “End of an Era”, which was a great success of Greek cinema in the 1990s.
Yannis Zoumboulakis – TO VIMA