Time is on filmmaker’s side, though not for his first feature
If emerging filmmaker Alexandros Voulgaris, whose film «Crying?» is currently playing at cinemas, matures as he ages, his future as a director looks very promising indeed. The 22-year-old’s debut feature film (which he also wrote) shows a strength and power rarely seen in first-timers’ films, which are also lacking in many efforts by more seasoned filmmakers, too. His immature, yet promising, eye for cinema in «Crying?» displays something fresh, a sense of ease and a feel for meter and pacing. He appears unconcerned with making a big impression, neither with his choice of subject nor with his narrative. Filmed with a digital camera, the film is a day-to-day account of his own generation – a testimony to its problems, anxieties and concerns. The storyline is basic: A young man who runs a low-budget film production agency seeks associates for a specific project. This is the starting point for the two main characters to meet, and around their budding relationship we witness the involvement of third parties as well as their difficulty to communicate on an emotional level. Alexandros Voulgaris puts the pieces of this puzzle together with apparent ease, adding a playful tone, a sense of empathy and a large dose of sensitivity. The 20-something actors perform without pretense, as if it all comes naturally. Voulgaris has succeeded in painting a portrait of a generation of young Greeks in the omnipresent capital. The shortcoming in the film «Crying?» is the fact that it does not stand as a feature and would have done much better as a short or medium-length film. The film bends under the weight of its lengthiness and the feeling of pleasant surprise wears thin with the passage of time.
