In the history of film, there is an apparent shift from raunchy intense cinematography to work that is more tame and mundane. There is a loss of shock or craziness in movies outside of the Horror or Thriller genre, which can best be described as a watering down effect. Some big hits succeed in bringing an ambiguous understanding of morals to the screen, but many stick with the status quo or common understandings of their perceived audience. The flair of an unreliable protagonist or dilemma with multiple answers that are simultaneously correct and incorrect has been relegated in favor of films with clear goals and obvious “good guys.”
This is not the case in The Summer with Carmen, a Greek film that explores itself as it unfolds on the screen. Arriving on DVD on October 15, 2024 through Cinephobia Releasing, this film does not scramble to give the audience a clear answer or philosophy behind its characters. Director Zacharias Mavroeidis, with co-writer Fondas Chalatsis, creates a compelling and raunchy Romantic Comedy that keeps real-world worries at bay in search of something much more important, love. The offbeat film is designed to push the boundaries of romance with its openly proud queerness and selection of sex scenes and nudity labeled a few shades grayer than the softcore porn of normal American films. However, what is special about the film, is that these sequences are integral parts of the emotions and connections of the characters. They do not feel forced in or overtly sexual because the characters within the scenes are acting as people, not pornstars.
The movie takes place at a Grecian nude beach where two friends, Yorgos Tsiantoulas and Andreas Labropoulos, must decide how to write a screenplay, both characters are gay and proud, but this feels like the end of their true connections as the film shows how different they are. In age, job, lifestyle, emotional security, and maturity, these two characters are foils of each other. Their shared queerness is a part of their lives but not a defining theme of the movie, something that feels unique with many queer films deciding only to tackle the subject of queerness in their themes instead of using queer characters to exist in other plotlines. The plot is told as flashbacks, which at first feels straightforward and overused, quickly turning the pace of the film into a sludge rush through the past two years of a romantic plot turned sour. What the movie decides to do to break this up is the most entertaining part of it, utilizing the potential of metafiction.
The characters are discussing creating a film about flashbacks that are happening in the film, providing insight into the situations after they have happened. This gives a healthy dose of foreshadowing that helps to build the characters and their growth. Change is a large theme in the movie that would not be as important if the metafiction approach was not used. The Summer With Carmen works well as a meta-movie, discussing its creation as it progresses. The movie emphasizes itself with stylized title cards that announce the movie’s characters and plot progression. They work themselves into the entire movie and remind the viewer what they are watching. That is a redefined romantic comedy that pushes its tropes and pacing into full view. Allowing the story to slowly build because the defining parts of the movie are already given to the viewer.
The cinematography of The Summer with Carmen does a great job of painting a Grecian landscape that is just as beautiful as it is daunting and dramatic. The colors are vibrant and pop on the screen with the blue sky backdrop and the lighting does a wonderful job of conveying emotion. It is a film that is artistic with its scenery without the plotline. Queer men living in a modern yet still archaic-looking Greece serves as a beautiful backdrop for the film. The cities link the characters and their past lovers with each character’s home feeling unique and providing succinctly different emotions and levels of maturity.
You can gauge the characters based on the homes they live in and the way they dress. This is stereotypical, but that theme is a part of the movie itself; especially with the two main characters who go back and forth about the talking point that being gay means passing as straight and straight men who can look gay through appearance. The characters would feel like cookie-cutter in a queer film if not for the problems they face as friends with different opinions and goals about love.
A powerful funny film made for Greek audiences, The Summer with Carmen feels enchanting and foreign with its groundbreaking storytelling and stunningly beautiful visuals. The film does not shy away from its love for the nude male figure, but it uses it as a cornerstone of the story and builds the pursuit of it as something more than lustful passion. That is why Cryptic Rock The Summer with Carmen 4 out of 5 stars.
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