Monday, April 21, 2008

A film about manges? (3)

Τhe film manuscript is naive, as usual, superficial and misleading. The two -so called- manges are two poor people "pretending" in a childish way, as usual, to be tough. They pretend to be koutsavakia and they are cowards. In the beginning of the film you can see them sitting in a small taverna "playing" a song which is not rebetiko but a cheap serenade. The content of the verses is though interesting. You can find similar texts in rebetiko songs. It is about that typical, though natural, attitude towards money. In some words, "I'm stone broke, but I don't give a dumn. A cloudless life and retsina means everything to me..." (concerning this matter and attitude, I'm going to write a post, as soon as possible) . The film was produced during the beginning of the 50's and the echo of the refugee problem was still actual. When one of the two "manges" inherits a rich uncle from Konstantinopel, all his "indifference" towards money is changing radically, and his behaviour too. This is a typical superior, bourgeois capitalistic and propagandistic point of view meaning, money is everything no matter if you pretend the opposite (unfortunately, partly, right).
But,
the main reason of this post was Grigorakis Asikis, L. Leondaridis and A. Savvaidis. Three big musicians who are "participating" in this bloody film. I don't mention Savvaidis dotter or wife(?) who sings a Turkish song dressed as a traditional Turkish woman, because I don't believe that it was insulting. The three musicians are used as comical figures in a ridiculous and cheap surrounding pretending to be a Paschas' reception hall. The typical effort to earn money by investing as little as possible (because the scenography is unimportand and nobody will observe it, as they believe and still do...) and the superior attitude Greeks have towards Turkey and its people, is obvious.

The three musicians are playing a Turkish song. We see them only by chance because the camera is focusing on a group of chicks, supposing to be a Turkish harem. The two main "actors" are sitting among the chicks, trying to improvise in a totally foolish way.
I really feel pitty about the
Greek "umbearable lightness of being" which is, unfortunately, always actual, missleading and self-destructive. Turkey with its conscious and stubborn foreign policy is a future country, a very big and promissing market. Greece proves every day that our future is ambiguous. It is not enough anymore with our seas, our islands, Greek food and Parthenon. Any different opinions?
All people say how much they love truth but, how many can bear it?

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