A father sails with his two college age children to one of the Greek islands. Nominally it’s for a vacation, but he has other plans in mind, in particular to get the kids to meet the mother who ran out on them when they were babies.
Despite the fact that the set up sounding serious, this is a surprising up beat little film. First time director Kostis Charamountanis has mad a one of a kind film that moves along at a great clip and manages to work despite making several choices that would have sunk any other film.
While the film starts off conventional, the film shifts once we get to the island into something else. Using experimental or if not that unconventional techniques, fragmented narrative and a few other things, the film takes on a life of its own. The techniques are showy and in your face and in any other hands would have come off as annoying but here the tricks come off completely in line with the tone of the film. This is a warts and all family vacation where your family does weird things but you don’t care because you love them and the weirdness is them. Here the repeated shots or removed shots or whatever else is all part of the charm of the film.
That the film works is entirely due to the cast who aren’t so much acting as just living life. If I didn’t know any better I would swear everyone was related to everyone else. There is an ease and a joy to the interaction that makes you feel as though everyone has lived their lives together.
This film is a joy.
This is one of the best films at this year’s New Directors New Films and is highly recommended.
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