Difficult review. Eftihia's life story was incredibly compelling on its own, so you really really had to try to mess it up... and sadly they did in a few ways. But first the good stuff.
Like I said, the story is captivating. A violently free, clearly flawed, passionate, smart, unyielding creature, with her life flooding with both trauma and moments of happiness, that poured all she had and was into her lyrics. Turning her back on social norms and pretention, she was an icon of authenticity. Her songs were anything from dark poetry to carpe diem nuances. So it's a story worth telling, for sure.
Photography was beautiful, and there a couple of scenes that are outstanding. And you might also get a couple of big and sudden laughter bursts. However.
The cast for me was hit and miss. The hits; Young Eftihia (LOVED that gal), her husband, the daughters. Heavy miss; Older Eftihia (as another reviewer said, like I was watching another character), her mother, almost the entirety of the rest. Lucas I loved as a relationship, but most of the caricature-gay jokes were super cringe. Yes, era context, but still.
However, the biggest letdown of the movie was the script and the editing. The script was quite bad, I felt it was written by someone who imagines what people talk like (Idk, maybe they adapted the theatrical script?). This script combined with extremely basic, almost non-caring editing, makes some of the film's should-have-been-wrecking moments feel forced and unearned. And I'm so so so very sad, because the potential was right there.
I'm giving it an 8 because I'm Greek, and yet I was unaware of the magnitude of her career. Like, 80% of the songs that I grew up with were hers. Songs about love and life, but also death, pain, and even existential dread and human vulnerability. Hence, I succumb to my respect for the person herself, and her legacy, both musically and as related to gender norm breaking. Otherwise the movie stands on a solid 6.
