"I am going to destroy you. And I am going to destroy you because I am attracted to you". Such dialogue (between the prison warden and a young inmate, in this case) is not uncommon in the Greek cinema masterpiece "Fylakes anilikon". In a nutshell, this movie manages to sum up the entire 80's Greek youth culture in a mere 90 minutes of printed film. It depicts the story of a team, going from restless youngsters to prison convicts. Having decided that crime is the only way out of their problematic dead-end life they begin to plan a simple robbery. However, the plan goes wrong, they get caught and finally end up in juvenile prison. While there, the movie truly takes off. The team, apparently, do not have a good time. They are confined to a cell, they are sharing their room with other convicts, their families feel pretty bad about the situation and the prison staff are being mean to them. Plus, they have to deal with the warden's homosexuality and his fondness of young inmates. It's a real bummer for the team and it just goes to show that being in jail is bad, quite a surprising plot twist there. All is not lost however as the movie is not completely devoid of meaningful social messages and exquisite acting. Watch as the relatives cry outside the prison when being separated from their loved ones (some of them in the background are laughing their teeth out). Artistic challenges never cease to exist in the script and the director handles them masterfully. For example, the feeling of prison isolation is unique (most of the movie has been filmed in no more than three indoor locations). The casting is superb. The supervisor of the prison is played by Artemis Matsas, one of the sneakiest looking people (ever). "Theos" ("God") (Nikos Tsachiridis), one of the prison staff, is so mean looking and convincing you'd think he really worked at some correctional institution (or been an inmate in one). Themis Manessis, a Greek actor/cult figure is a 50 year old man, having an extremely large mustache. That doesn't stop him playing the role of a young team member, supposedly a schoolboy at the age of 18-19. This is classic stuff, not just comic relief. Manesis is an integral part of the film mechanics: At no point can you tell whether you are watching a tear-inducing drama or some sort of twisted comedy, written by a genius. All the scenes are a weird inconclusive mix of retarded individual outbursts and over dramatized meaningless problems. Most of the time you simply can't help but burst out in unstoppable laughter until your stomach begins to hurt. Concluding, no one should miss this movie. If you live outside Greece, plan your next holiday there. When you go, try to find the VHS tape. If you can't find it, stay in Greece until it shows up on TV. At some point it will show up. Stay, even if you have to wait forever. Even until you take your final breath. Some things are worth dying for.
