Ola einai dromos (1998)

Director:

Pantelis Voulgaris

Writers:

Giorgios Skabardonis (writer)
Pantelis Voulgaris (writer)

Release Date:

13 May 1999 (Germany)

Genre:

Drama

Awards:

2 wins

Cast

Thanasis Vengos
Giorgos Armenis	...	Tsetsenoglou
Dimitris Katalifos
Kostas Kazanas
rest of cast listed alphabetically:
Stella Kazazi
Angeliki Lemoni
Yannis Mohlas
Efthimis Pappas	...	Dead son
Regina Remencius
Efi Stamouli
Alexandros Tsakiris
Stergios Tzaferis

Also Known As:

Ολα είναι δρόμος (Greece)
It's a Long Road
Ein langer Weg (Germany) [de]
Es ist ein langer Weg (Germany) [de]
Sur le chemin de la vie (France) [fr]

Runtime:

USA:118 min

Country:

Greece

Language:

Greek

Color:

Color

Aspect Ratio:

1.66 : 1

Company:

Alco Films

Excellent Greek Cinema

This is one of the best Greek movies I have seen in the last years. Three stories dealing with three men and their stance towards life, given their personal background. All stories are held in Northern Greece (Macedonia and Thrace), covering all the spectrum from urban to rural settings. Very solid scenario, wonderful photography (especially the Delta of river Evros) and amazing performances by all three protagonists. On the flip side, some minor issues are that a lot of situations appear artificial, without the atmosphere leading naturally to them and that the quality of the supporting cast is generally sub-par (notable exception is the third story, more on that later).

The first story is generally considered the weakest. I had the same opinion myself when I first saw this movie when it came out, but seeing it again and from a different perspective I can now say it is equally beautiful (whoever has served his military duty would really appreciate this one!).

The second story is somewhat neutral until Veggos comes to the foreground. He takes this story on his shoulders and delivers a memorable performance. This story is mostly based on Veggos acting and Evros' Delta aquatic life, but I have to give a credit to the ending, which is unexpected and exceptional.

And then we arrive at the third story, almost everyone's favorite and already elevated to "essential classic" status among Greek cinema lovers. It has the best ever representation of what in Greece we call "dog" clubs and are now a cult phenomenon. The singers were real "dog" singers (remember Spyros Dimitriou - "Makis, you and I will never die", how cool was that!) and the songs real "dog" songs (which unfortunately weren't included in the movie soundtrack). Special credit to the authentic dog club feel, which is worked out to the very last head gesture. As the story progresses, it reaches levels of supreme cult coolness. The very last scene rightfully makes it to the top-10 scenes of Greek cinema. And I don't think any other actor could play the lead role with such a quality Armenis did. He was magnificent.

In general, a movie with depth and class. Far beyond classic no brainers, but still has some minor identity problems. I would suggest it to anyone lucky enough to find it.