'Papaflessas' gets better and better as time goes by. I first saw it at a very young age and had the notion that it was a low-budget and rather silly b-movie concerning the Greek revolution against the Turks (1821). I watched it again recently and I must confess I'm ready to change my mind radically about the quality of this film.
First of all, the cast consists of many great and well-known actors. Almost all of them contributing were of very high quality: D. Papamihail for instance, who incarnates the leading role of Papaflessas, does a terrific job and, arguably, adds another great performance to his long career. Others who deserve to be mentioned here-by, are the following: A. Alexandrakis, S. Xenidis, H. Logothetis, D. Ioakimmidis, Th. Moridis and S. Stratigos. Generally, all the main actors acted splendidly.
Secondly, credit should be given to the very vivid dialogs. I was pleasantly surprised by the fact that the Greek language was very well treated in the movie, depicting at the same time the character of the hero in a very realistic and veracious way...
...Which leads me to the third point I'd like to mention: The way Papaflessas' character was presented and treated is very dialectical; the man we see is a very patriotic, yet selfish and stubborn figure. I'd go as far as to assume that 'Papaflessas' is for Greek cinematography, what 'Patton' is for the American one. Briefly, Papaflessas is a round character, who has many virtues, as well as weaknesses (often, it is these same virtues, that lead him to mistakes).
Finally, kudos to the producers for the making of a very stylistic movie and one of a very good taste as well. I'm sure that a high amount of money must have been spent for the production. The comparison to other films about the Greek revolution falls flat.
The final conclusion: A film deserving to be watched by a larger crowd.
