Greek director Michalis Kakogiannis is primarily know to American audiences as the director of Zorba the Greek. But this early film of his - a critique of the strivings of the upper middle class - the Greek bourgeoisie- is hard-hitting in its own right. It centers on a family that, underneath their veneer of luxury and social status, has spent down their money, verging on bankruptcy. The solution pushed forward by the mother is to have her daughter marry a man she does not love but is from an extremely wealthy family. It's a film about deception and moral compromises that damage everyone involved.The film's also anchored by three particularly strong female performances. The daughter Chloe Pella is played by Ellie Lambeti, who starred in three of Kakogiannis' early films. Chloe enjoys the social and clubbing life of a young Greek woman in a social strata but knows her family is heavily in debt and feels it's her duty to prevent her parents from descending into poverty. She actively dislikes the privileged and boring Nikos but plays along to alleviate her mother's panic (The father is accepting of their fate and worries about his daughter's unhappiness).Mother Roxanni (Athena Michailidou) is preoccupied with keeping up appearances in a role that could have been a caricature but instead shows a woman locked in so tightly to a nouveau riche identity that she overrides the needs of others. But what I liked most about the film is the equal emphasis given to the family's maid of many years, Katerina (Eleni Zafeiriou). It's a masterful stroke by director/writer Kakogiannus in a film where he could've only focused on the Pella family.Katerina's not been paid in quite some time out of devotion to the family and especially to Chloe, even though the family finds money for expensive parties and the best liquor. She's been more of a mother to Chloe than Roxanni, and the portrayal of their relationship is a lovingly portrayed. But when her own son, being raised by Katerina's elderly mother, has an accident causing a serious concussion, she and Chloe rush to her hometown, with Chloe promising to send money for his medical care. The money, of course, never gets sent. This prompts a startlingly intense scene near the end where Katerina returns with her child to confront Roxanni and demand her back pay, with Chloe ultimately failing to help her. How the film contrasts the high living of the bourgeoisie with the poverty of those struggling is done in scenes that highlight the intense conflict and indeed horror Chloe feels (and is abetted by the mother) should they not succeed in their ruse. There are a number of other characters in Chloe's world who see the mistake that she may be making that highlight the moral dilemma she's taken on.This is truly an example of a modern Greek tragedy, and is worth watching.
