Hold Me (2006) [N/A]
Featuring:
Katerina Lypiridou, Takis Vogopoulos, Panos Kranidiotis
Written by:
Masoud Amralla Al Ali
Loukia Rikaki
Directed by:
Loukia Rikaki
Release Date:
November 20, 2006
Original Title:
Κράτησέ Με
Genres:
Drama
Production Companies:
Tricky Trick Films
Production Countries:
Greece
Ratings / Certifications:
N/A
Runtime: 94
This film was submitted by Greece to be in the Eh!U Eurpoean Film Festival(http://www.eutorontofilmfest.ca), so supposedly it represents one of the best films that Greece has to offer. The Greeks have given our civilization many wonderful things: sculpture, sport, architecture, mythology, literature, philosophy ... but this film shows that movie making is not one of them.At the festival, the director, Lucia Rikaki, stated that this film is about loss. I can agree with that ? I lost two hours of my life watching this film that I will not get back. Why did I hate this film so much? This film had so much artsy-imagery that it had no story or substance. One scene features a woman "speaking" in sign language to her grandfather (who we find out is deaf and blind) apologizing for not being there for him when he wanted her around. I thought it was kind of odd that she was signing to him since the grandfather was blind, but then a few minutes later you find out he's dead.She apologizing and signing to her dead, blind grandfather. Really.Then there is the scene of a naked couple lying on the road. In the summertime. Naked. Ouch. Then they have sex. On the road. In the summertime. In the background, there is a beach and there are people enjoying the wonderful summer day where they can look at the crazy couple getting asphalt burns on their nether regions. Maybe that's commonplace in Greece ...There is also a scene where two strangers have sex on a train. Hey, I like watching people getting nasty on film just as much as the next guy, but the plot of this film was worse that most porno films out there. At least give me a plot! All you have are a bunch of people being interviewed about loss and giving these artsy-fartsy answers with a bunch of flowery and poetic imagery that doesn't make much sense. I don't know Greek, but I have a hard time believing people actually talk that way.I walked out of this film when the apologetic sign-language woman starting apologizing to her brother for not being there ... she should be apologizing to me dammit! My brother did (he was the one who dragged me to this thing, and suggested we leave early. We left and had cake). I felt so exhausted afterwards, I hope people will read this critique and determine if this is something they want to see. To be fair, there maybe people who are into this kind of stuff. They are a menace to our society and must be stopped.My apologies to Rikaki for being so brutal, but this is definitely not a film for the general public.
