Rembetiko

Rembetiko – Greece – 1983 – Musical/Drama – 110 min. Director, Costas Ferris.  Considered by many the greatest Greek movie of all time.  However, considering the Greek penchant for melodrama, this is NOT a happy songfest, but rather a sober look at the hard realities of a life with few palatable choices.

“Rembetiko is, for lack of a better way to describe it, the Greek blues. Rembetiko, the film, brings this passionate, soulful and melancholy music beautifully to life in a 110-minute musical about a Greek singer’s career journey from the backstreet taverns of Pireas to the steamy nightclubs of Chicago.  Acclaimed Greek actress Sotiria Leonardou, who also co-penned the film with director Costas Ferris, stars in the film as Marika, a Rembetiko singer whose family immigrated to Greece from Smyrna after the Turks pillaged the city in 1922. The family’s life in Pireas adds a wonderful cultural flavor that serves as the heart and soul of of this music and this film. This fictionalized musical biopic centers around the story of Greece in the early 20th century, incorporating newsreels into its live action account.  The film follows her abusive upbringing with parents who were rembetiko singers, her relationship with Bobbi (Nikos Kalogeropoulos) and the birth of their son out of wedlock and, eventually, her tragic murder by a partier during a time of heightened popularity of her band. As is true for most musicals, Rembetiko works best when the music is going and the melancholy tunes are being belted out full-force. Leonardou has an extraordinary voice and presence, and while she’s occasionally weighted down by a tad too much melodrama in the film’s story and the slightly revisionist history lessons, her musical performances are mesmerizing as are virtually everyone else’s throughout the film’s seemingly timeless 110-minute run time. If you are able to surrender yourself to the sounds of Rembetiko, then this is most assuredly an unforgettable and entertaining cinematic experience. Winner of the Silver Bear at the Berlin International Film Festival and several awards at the Thessaloniki Film Festival, Rembetiko is an enchanting and soul-stirring film.” © Written by Richard Propes, The Independent Critic.