Xenia

this may contain spoiler

Greece has received great number of refugees and immigrants the last decades and that resulted in a huge reformation of its socio geographical landscape. The first wave of immigrants, in the early 90's, came from the neighboring Albania right after the fall of Hodja's regime. They are the largest ethnic group of immigrants in Greece up to today, while many of their children have been born in Greece but they are refused of citizenship rights, according to an anachronistic law that, hopefully, will be amended.

That situation is exactly what the movie is about. Two youngsters, of Albanian mother and a vaguely known Greek father, after the death of their mother put themselves in the search of the father, in order to get his testimony and obtain the long cherished Greek citizenship.There starts a juvenile road movie from the Greek capital towards the northern Thessaloniki, portraying scenes of the countryside as nature and human landscape, denoting the unbreakable bond between the two brothers, their struggle to survive in a not always welcoming society and their eagerness to change their fate.

The movie treats the delicate issue of the immigrants adaptation in the Greek society, which has corresponded in a controversial way. There were other Greek movies with similar theme, such as To kanarini Podilato (The Canary-color Bicycle) and O Dromos gia ti Disi (The Way to the West) but what differentiates this one is his hilarious attitude and optimism, which made it a teenage hit in Greece. People move on in their lives facing their realities and accepting their particularities without losing their innocence. As one of the protagonists says: ' We have no home, that means that all the world is our home.'

Thus cosmopolitanism, anti racism, anti-homophobic, two heartwarming young protagonists that call you to partake, a vivid scenario without clichés and full of surprises consist what could be an emblematic film for Greece in the 2010's

The movie «Xenia» (with the accent on the i, but I will not tell you what it is in the story) is more Aristotelian than other Greek adventures of recent vision, with a "secure structure" built on cause and effect, and it is also more sentimental, more melo-Greekly passionate... And very gay in tone (by courtesy of director Panos Koutras), although no sexual orientation is the core of the plot. It has to do with two brothers born in Crete, children of an Albanian woman who has just died and a Greek man who abandoned them. Suddenly the younger one realizes that his brother and he were not recognized, they have no documents, they are strangers in their own land, so out they go in search of their (s.o.b.) father, while some dreams are sought after and a maturing process leads them to their goals. Excellently played by the two leading actors, Kostas Nikouli and Nikos Gelia, the film combines the harsh realities of xenophobia and privation with beautiful scenes, like a brief night cruise by boat, while the boys sleep on board and on the shore the vessel is escorted by the entities in their fantasies during childhood, a period signed by abuse (David Lynch would applaud) and some surprises like Dido, the rabbit. «Xenia» won the Hellenic Film Academy awards for Best Motion Picture, Direction, Screenplay, Supporting Actor, Editing and Costumes; and the Best Film Award at the festivals of Gijón, Rio de Janeiro, and Chicago.

Dany and Ody are brothers who have not seen each other for a while. Then Dany turns up in Piraeus to tell Ody that their flamboyant Albanian mother has dies and that they need to find their estranged Greek father – and to enter Ody in 'Greek Star' – a talent show of all talent shows. Oh yes and to get Greek citizenship and thus avoid being deported.

So begins the odyssey and it is necessary to point out that Dany is gay and fairly extrovert and the film takes a few minutes to warm up and I implore you to stay with it – you will be well rewarded. It has surreal moments to including one with a big bunny rabbit – but 'Donnie Darko' this ain't.

The enthusiasm for the characters and the care in which they are played shines through the screen. There is also a plethora of supporting players and I loved nearly all of them. Plus we get some great song and dance routines and a soundtrack that makes you want to get up and join in. I simply adored this film it left me in a great mood and I was miffed when it ended such is the fun of this journey. If you do not mind a bit of surrealism and can still believe in dreams or you just want a great loving film then this is one you will not wish to miss.

This movie isn't good. The acting is laughably bad, especially by the main character. The runtime could have been cut in half, and the movie would likely have been better. Also, there are a couple of unnecessary cringy dance scenes (you'll know it when you see it). The whole bunny-related trope's meaning isn't really explained and it just leaves viewers confused. Further, there's a gun-related scene that makes very little sense (I won't mention specifics in order to avoid spoilers). In a nutshell, it fails to engage viewers, it has bad acting, and it's unnecessarily drawn-out.

The modern Greek odyssey, in search of decent work and identity papers for these brothers, whose father was born on this multi-millennial soil, clashes with a part of today's culture, with nationalists defending their country's national identity giving rise to anti-Albanian sentiment, due to its economic immigration.

Since the arrival of the Golden Dawn political party, from which emerged this film denouncing the twilight of their neo-Nazi brown eagle, manifestly opportunistic, it gives credence to the mirage of political wealth created by the Greek miracle, a bubble of chewing gum that sank into misery.

A demagogic battlefield, despite everything, springs forth this fraternal story that joins the two ends, welded, an essential and stronger bond, with an overprotective big brother and his adorable younger brother, tender, sweet, emo, effeminate - eats sweet, succulent and delicious - made of strange dreams.

Stuffed animals and personified animals, where the parents are absent, whose mother Albania sang of the bonds of children and sons, even in dreams, strange and strange indeed, strange but solid 7/10.