139 The Ogre of Athens

[Finch]

Despite his best efforts, shy and modest bank clerk Thomas (Dinos Iliopoulos) struggles to fit in with the pace of modern life. On New Year’s Eve, a comedy of errors ensues and Thomas is mistaken for ‘The Ogre’, a notorious criminal mastermind who rules the streets of Athens. Suddenly, men respect him and a woman is interested in him - it’s all he’s ever wanted. However, everything comes with a price and Thomas is soon out of his depth when his unwitting white lie unravels. Rich with physical comedy and sharp social commentary, this satirical crime drama from director Nikos Koundouros (Young Aphrodites) was a commercial disaster on release and is now considered to be a true classic of modern Greek cinema.

LIMITED EDITION BLU-RAY FEATURES

High-Definition digital transfer
Uncompressed mono PCM audio
New introduction from Jonathan Franzen (2025)
New interview with critic Christina Newland (2025)
New interview with Greek film expert Dimitris Papanikolaou (2025)
Newly improved English subtitle translation
Reversible sleeve featuring designs based on original posters
Limited edition booklet featuring new writing by Andréas Giannopoulos and extract from Jonathan Franzen’s Freedom
Limited edition of 2500 copies, presented in full-height Scanavo packaging with removable OBI strip leaving packaging free of certificates and markings


Released in the UK/US: 17th/18th November.

[domino harvey]

Didn’t care for Young Aphrodites but this sounds interesting— anyone seen it?

[ryannichols7]

at last, Greek cinema!! been calling for this since the onset of the label. Calvin can sell us on it, surely

[Calvin]

I didn't care that much for Young Aphrodites either but I'm a big fan of this one. Clearly visually influenced by the likes of The Third Man with its Dutch angles and chiaroscuro lighting, it's a pretty astute, darkly humorous critique of the state of post-war Greece through a mistaken identity narrative. Dinos Iliopoulos' performance as the lead is pretty tremendous - I understand that he had done largely comedic work until this point and, whilst there is an element of tragicomedy, he manages to hit all the notes as a initially meek, mild mannered bank clerk who is landed with a greater purpose in life that he has craved but at the cost of his morality (and self).

I think I saw this prior to Young Aphrodites, but sadly it hasn't been easy to explore Koundouros' work further due to availability (with subs). I believe The Magic City has also been recently restored and I'd be keen to see Vortex and 1922, his film on the Asia Minor Castastrophe.

[domino harvey]

The Guardian article on the film in relation to its use in Franzen’s novel

[reaky]

I’d been saving this for New Year’s Eve, since that’s when the story plays out. The Ogre of Athens seems to be a film with something on its mind, but the woozy, almost stoned unfurling of the narrative and its digressive nature (dance scene after dance scene) held me at arm’s length. Scenes failed to land and plot points were fudged. Pity.