“Our Summer Would Make a Movie” (To kalokairi tis Karmen, Greece, 2023)
From Greece comes Zacharias Mavroeidis’ provocative “Our Summer Would Make a Movie,” with a delightful sense of subversion. There’s no shortage of lust and relationship drama, but the platonic friendship at its center is the driving force behind the film.Best friends Demosthenes (Yorgos Tsiantoulas) and Nikitas (Andreas Labropoulos) spend the day at a queer nude beach in Athens, enjoying the sun-drenched rocks, beautiful water, and cruising. Meanwhile, they discuss their memories of a recent summer and discuss turning it into a script for Nikitas’ feature film debut.
Mavroeidis and Fondas Chalatsis’ script brings a playful quality to the screen, listing the “golden rules of screenwriting” in a metalinguistic exploration of narrative. Demosthenes and Nikitas attempt to set up plot points based on real-life situations. However, life is not without a script.
After its opening act, where the dog Carmen arrives as a mere symbolic catalyst for Demóstenes’ contradictory emotions, the film changes somewhat from its initial fantastical rhythm as it oscillates between the two time periods, always returning to the writing process of the contemporary episode, in parallel with life lessons that they express while writing.
The film is not a laugh-out-loud comedy, but it does have some funny and cringe-inducing moments. Comparisons with “Rotting in the Sun” are inevitable, since both are set on a nudist beach and use metalanguage.
Sex is an important part of this journey, which forces the protagonists to confront their future and what they really want from life. Yorgos Tsiantoulas reinforces his status as a Greek god in breathtaking scenes. “Our Summer Would Make a Movie” reconfigures the romantic comedy by being deliciously sexy and addressing queer identity, friendship and the insecurities that come with questioning your place in the world.
This isn’t the kind of character study that’s brutal and dark, but rather a moving and captivating exploration of the process of coming to terms with your flaws and growing in self-awareness.
*Eduardo de Assumpção is a journalist and responsible for the blog cinematografiaqueer.blogspot.com
Source: Maxima
I am an experienced author and journalist with a passion for lifestyle journalism. I currently work for Buna Times, one of the leading news websites in the world. I specialize in writing stories about health, wellness, fashion, beauty, interior design, and more. My articles have been featured on major publications such as The Guardian and The Huffington Post.