Stelios

Yparho tells the story of legendary Greek singer Stelios Kazantzidis.

The movie doesn't approach him as just an idol. Instead, it manages to provide some valuable insights into his character, showing the tough childhood that included losing his father and led to the dominant role of his mother. Then came his meteoric rise from an unknown member of the working class to an absolute icon. But it's interesting he still couldn't quite enjoy his success. He felt uncomfortable performing in luxurious night clubs for the glamorous upper class, he'd rather relate with the poor, hapless and underprivileged. Furthermore, he couldn't come to terms with the idea that record labels were making a fortune by taking advantage of the artists and he went to great lengths to stand up for his and his colleagues' rights. Add to all that the struggles in his personal life and one gets a good idea of his complex state of mind.

It could be argued that it avoids some of the edgy stuff around his life and doesn't go as deep as it could in order to maintain its appeal to the masses, but at the same time there is nothing "cheap" about it and it keeps a nice balance. As a result, the movie is highly entertaining, draws the viewer in and flows smoothly through its entire running time.

Keeping the same attitude, the movie remains straightforward despite the narrative starting with the main character being a middle aged man and talking about his past in an interview.

Great casting choices. Christos Mastoras, Klelia Renesi and Asimenia Voulioti are portraying the key characters and they all are delivering powerful performances.

Yparho also does a great job at taking you back to the time period where the narrated events take place and makes it feel authentic.

The music is excellent by itself, but is also used wisely in terms of fitting the narrative and achieving the desired emotional effect.

On a final note, it has to be said that Kazantzidis is an essential part of Greece's history and popular culture. Many people grew up with these songs, so that alone makes for a very moving watching experience and it's easy for the audience to ignore any imperfections or sidestep any complaints, especially if you watch it on the big screen and share the experience with many others.

I will be honest: when I first heard that Mastoras was gonna portray Kazantzidis, I was dissapointed. I mean, the universally aclaimmed best Greek singer of all time is gonna be portrayed by a pop singer? Luckily, I was wrong. Mastoras has a unique way of immitating Kazantzidis' voice without sounding like a parody. His acting, although nothing amazing, was solid. The other actors played their part as well. If you take out the few "flatlines" that this flick has, it could have easily been a 9/10. Also, if you are not a familiar with Greek music of the 50-70s you won"t understand the references or the name drops.

To sum up, a solid movie and an amazing tribute to best Greek singer of the 20th century (if not of all centuries)

The film is very enjoyable to watch and leaves you with a good memory that they respected a folk singer who left an era!. Beautiful, a film that creates nice feelings in you. Bravo to all the actors. Interesting film in terms of story and full of well-known favorite songs. Christos Mastoras was excellent in his performance and amazing in how close he had come to Kazantzidis' voice. It was a real surprise!! The female actors were excellent and very faithful in reviving their roles, both the singers and the mother. From the beautiful Greek works and directing, with respect for their characters and history. Bravo to all of you!

Cudos to the casting manager, every character selected is spot on. The movie itself doesn't do justice to the life of one of the most iconic singers in Greece. There are so many sides of him that we didnt get to see like the gambling addiction, the Matsas conflict, the Nikolopoulos trial and so many that divided society and influenced so many singers. In my humble opinion the movie is missing a lot of elements os trying to "round the corners" . Finally the last months of his life dealing with the tumour and how he wanted to make amends with the people he hurt and how some of them rejected him even in the last moment of his life is not shown.

A very well directed with a very good script movie.

Mastoras was solid portraying the legend of Kazantzidis.

The movie also did an amazing job portray how the life and the entertainment was between the 1950s and the 1970s in Greece.

They also showed characters such as Marinella, Akis Panou and many more.

Amazing effort for Greek standards as i said before. They also showed. The matriarchy in the Greek families at that time when there was no father in the family.

Maybe the emotion because i loved Kazantzidis speaks right now and all the greek speaking viewers will love this just for the songs.

For those who don't know his story make a background check of Kazantzidis before seeing this.