The Counterfeit Coin

The concept behind the story is what life is about. A brilliant cast, a great director and a marvelous scenario. The scene, at the end of the movie, when D.Horn says to E.Lambeti that dispite their love, the coin was counterfeit, is one if the top five emotional scenes I ever seen. In the movie, there is a narrator, who connects these 4 stories and closes the film with the phrase...."in this story, the coin is not fake, actually, money is fake...."

If this film was made by a Hollywod director it would feature in the all time top 10. George Tzavelas masterpiece consists of four stories linked together by a counterfeit coin. In each story the characters seek to find happiness or love in things that turn out to be fake, hence the counterfeit pound. In the first story a lifetime silver merchant creates the coin only to realize it brought him nothing but fear, he throws it away and starts a new job as a happy man. In the second story a beggar falls in love with a prostitute and tricks her to sleep with him giving her the fake coin only to realize that she only cares about the money. In the third story a fatherless child finds protection and closure in the hands of a childless man that up till that moment cared only about the money. The final epic conclusion is about a newly married couple that struggle in poverty but remain in love. Until the woman decides to leave her husband for a richer one. He is left alone only with the coin that once represented their love, only to realize that the coin is in fact fake...

I kalpiki lira is a historical moment for Greek cinema, as it is the first instance of a modular movie, four stories in one, connected by a counterfeit coin. And this coin isn't the only fake thing the main characters invest in, as each of them commits a sin (Anargyros-lust, Beggar-sloth, Vasilis-greed, Pavlos-pride) and gets to face the consequences.

Apart from the intriguing storylines, the biggest strength of the movie is that it captures the essence of life in'50s Athens, especially the bittersweet realism, as drama, humour, romance all blend together and that's in no small part thanks to the excellent performances of the all-star cast.

I wouldn't call it a film. It actually is a masterpiece. Released in 1955, but still reflects how deceptive our modern society really is. Kalpiki Lira (The Counterfeit Coin) is the first modular movie ever made in Greece. It consists of 4 stories with one thing in common. The counterfeit coin itself. From the creation to its journey among numerous owners. Is the coin fake, or is material wealth itself?

The new year's Eve scene with the poor orphan girl and the old childless miser man in the third story is maybe the most touching scene in Greek cinema.

Orestis Makris awakens the viewers' hearts with his excellent dramatic performance. A few scenes earlier, his screen-wife had told him 'look at the lime-painter and his wife: they have no money, but they have Fanitsa, their little angel', a line that always brings tears in my eyes.A must-see movie, an all-star film that combines the top theater actors of the time with the then-emerging cinema stars of the following 20-30 years.A film shot in lovely settings of the old-time Athens.