mraculeated The biggest problem with this movie is it’s a little better than you think it might be, which somehow makes it worse. As in, it takes itself a bit too seriously, which makes most of the movie feel kind of dull.

Cissy Évelyne It really made me laugh, but for some moments I was tearing up because I could relate so much.

Raymond Sierra The film may be flawed, but its message is not.

Roxie The thing I enjoyed most about the film is the fact that it doesn't shy away from being a super-sized-cliche;

higherall7 Found this film when videotapes could still be rented out of the Main Library. Now it's DVDs you can rent all week for nearly nothing but a late fee. What intrigued me was that here was a film that boasted an experience that paralleled some aspects of the African American experience. Greeks singing their own version of the Blues! What a concept!Thoroughly enjoyed this film and how it moved so seamlessly to me through the historical upheavals of 20th Century Greek Culture. More than looking for points of correspondence between Greek and African American cultures, I felt like I took a step forward in understanding the angst and pathos and finally tragic underpinnings of the Greek way of life. From the first frame, you can feel the overcrowding in the cities and the destitute conditions that are being experienced simply viewing the desolate aspect of a cafe where there are more people singing on the stage than can be found in the apathetic audience. Later, there is the unforgettable scene where the female lead sings one of the most stirring blues songs i have ever heard. Aretha Franklin has nothing to worry about, but the haunting tenor of 'Kaigomai-Kaigomai' sung to a packed house of rapt, sober individuals and couples will stay with me for the rest of my life.Director Costas Ferris exercises a sophisticated eye in composing compelling montages and yet it all seems to me to serve to exorcise the immemorial Greek Spirit at the end which often to outside observers seems to express the belief that it is fated for tragedy. The skillful exposition of a music of outcasts that seems to make tolerable and at times reach above and beyond the spiritual and material impoverishment of these urban Greeks is done with a unique 'elan by Stavros Xarhakos. Sotiria Leonardou comes across at times as a Greek Garbo, absorbing to look at and to listen to as she moves through the episodes of her character's life.The ensemble of characters have an easygoing, natural relationship with each other. They are at once like people I have known in my neighborhood and at the same time exotic and unlike any people I have known. This is one of those films that definitely rewards repeated viewing and invites a person to make a serious study of the Greek people in ancient and modern times.

h-kalivas The history underpinning this Film is the one that makes this film really unique. It is very hard for this film to be translated and make it understandable by the majority of people that can't speak Greek and may not feel the story. The story begins around 1920 in the coastal area of (now days)Turkey. Between the war most of the Greeks owned this area, however most of them were killed (not as soldiers but as unarmed people)and all the others were sent to Greece were they had to start their life from zero. The passion and the lyrics of the music as well is what makes this film one of the best in Greece. Rempetiko is this kind of music that was carried in main Greece by them.

dionysianartist my first experience of this film was its soundtrack, which my dad had on tape, and had played every now and then. FANTASTIC SOUNDTRACK, XARCHAKOS IS A Genius. The music in this film captures the mood of the real rebetiko perfectly, but unfortunately i have to say that after hearing this soundtrack, i really did expect a lot more than i saw in the film itself. some of the acting was OK, including leonardou's, but much of the filming and editing was heavy handed; the over-saturated colour of the film was also too much for me, and the German occupation either had too much focus for its ultimate importance, or was not developed enough to have the importance that might have been intended. The reason that i haven't totally scrapped this film is for a few reasons. even though the film is not as smoothly cohesive as it could have been, and was a bit inconsistent, there were some very well produced "moments"; individual parts of the film where everything worked perfectly (probably my favorite part was the final scene. in my opinion, this is the only part of the film which really cooperated with the soundtrack. i got chills down my spine). Another thing is that the actors playing smaller characters dd a better job of acting than the protagonist, for example, the old man who dances the slow zeibekiko (and by the way PJA, it's zeibeKIKO, not zeibeTIKO.)

ChicagoPT In Greece, Rembetiko had always been known as the music of the outcasts. Even the dance that is normally associated with it, (Zeimbetiko), occasionally looks like some kind of ritualistic act of defiance, to those ancient Greek deities, who for their own amusement, are constantly interfering with all our lives, creating Tragedy, Comedy, Pathos and Irony. It had traditionally been associated with Greek refugees from the west coast of Anatolia, who for various reasons, had become dispossessed and were now confined to living their lives under the lower step of the Greek urban social order, engaged in a life style that was considered borderline at best, in more ways then one. The time depicted in this film, covers a period in Athens from about 1922 -1958. This was a time of tremendous transition and instability for the entire Greek nation. The film begins with a montage of what the Greeks have called the Asia Minor Disaster, which was basically a military campaign (waged with rival nation Turkey) gone wrong, and which resulted in a population exchange with their nemesis nation, that increased the population in Greece by approximately 25% almost overnight, in 1923. Most of them ending up in Athens. In was in these overcrowded and economically and spiritually destitute conditions during the1930's, that the Rembetiko genre of music reached its height in popularity. After that, came a World War and Nazi occupation in 1940, and then a tragic Civil War in 1948. On to even more economic and political instability thru-out the 1950's.In "Rembetiko the movie" veteran Director Costas Ferris, much akin to a masterpainter, uses these historical events, by either showing or suggesting them, to recreate a background of a social order, that always seems to be on the edge of chaos and collapse. Scenery, costumes, period piece trivia etc. are all well executed and are quite successful in recreating a realistic and believable visual context for the period. The viewer will have little difficulty in the area movie pundits love to call "the suspension of disbelief". Winner of the prestigious Silver Bear award in 1984, and without question, one of the most absorbing and provocative films ever to come out of the Hellenic Republic, this is a story that works on many levels, from the superficially romantic and absurd to the exceedingly tragic and disturbingly profound. This is especially true if one is familiar with the history and urban culture of contemporary Greece, during the early and middle years of this century. This 107 minute Hellenic "Once Upon a Time" for adults, is both controversial and unforgettable. The basic storyline may seem somewhat simplistic, but that simplicity is deceptive. There is a great deal going on here that is not always plainly evident. Some of the events portrayed, are based upon the actual life experience of one Marika Ninou, who in reality, had in fact been a well known Rebetisis from that period. A Rebetisis today, is simply a term used for a female singer of Greek Rebetiko music. However during the period in question, being called a Rebetisis had a connotation, that was somewhat more pejorative in nature. The film follows the life experiences of the primary character, also named Marika, from the day of her unwanted birth and exceedingly difficult childhood, to her rise and eventual decline, as a popular Rebetisis, while still only in her mid thirties. She is essentially a very complex character, who is driven by a blind ambition to succeed in her singing career, while simultaneously being sustained through every ordeal in her life, by nothing more, then an enormous strength of character along with an equally strong determination and will to survive. However, in her quest to the top, she becomes increasingly self centered, detached and alienated, as both personal relationships and the overwhelming external events surrounding and affecting her life, spin quickly out of control. Nevertheless finding a deep rooted empathy for her came easy and naturally. In the beginning of the film, Marika is a young women in search of artistic recognition for her music. By the end of the film, ( in a final scene, that can only best be described as quintessentially Greek ), she is, in a very curious and symbolic way, redeemed by it ! Sortiria Leonardou gives a Tour de Force performance as Marika, while the glorious and haunting original Rembetiko compositions of Stavros Xarhakos, permeate the entire production. This is a very powerful film !!