Oξυγόνο
Oxigono

From the creators of 'Safe Sex' comes a modern Greek Tragedy about a family pitted against each other in a bid for power and money. A young stud, involved in numerous 'forbidden' sexual relationships becomes a blackmail pawn in the family's scheming as a cynical game of mutual extermination begins.

2003/ Drama / Rating:R18 / Director: Thanassis Papathanassiou

Full detail:

In the small, closed community of a provincial town, Magda tries to maintain a balance within a family facing many serious problems. The family's apparently normal, bourgeois, every-day life will crack open, bringing to the surface hatred and passions of the kind that lie well-hidden in the mists of the nearby lake.

An intense plot and a totally unexpected ending make up this film, which features characters who are vulnerable, innocent and ordinary, but who become ruthless and callous, worrying only about protecting their financial resources. The offences are disproportionately serious compared to the financial benefits they try to secure.

"…for uncovering, with authentic dialogue and gritty melodrama, the corruption of society and the breakdown of the family. By so doing it updates the Greek Tragedy in a sordid contemporary setting."
 (FIPRESCI Awards at 44th Thessaloniki International Film Festival 2003)

From the creators of 'Safe Sex' comes a modern Greek Tragedy about a family pitted against each other in a bid for power and money. A young stud, involved in numerous 'forbidden' sexual relationships becomes a blackmail pawn in the family's scheming as a cynical game of mutual extermination begins.

Winner - FIPRESCI Award in Greek Films, 2003 Thessaloniliki International Film Festival

Shot on DV with highly mobile camera and transferred to 35mm with very cold colours.

"A scarbrous black comedy, with the morality of an early Almodovar movie.."
Derek Elley, Variety.com

"A delirious Greek soap opera about a family pitted against each other in a bid for power and money. A young stud, involved in a sexual relationship with an older man, becomes a blackmail pawn in the family's scheming." - Raymond Murray, PHILADELPHIA INT'L GLFF

"Title stems from the sense of claustrophobia --- the lack of oxygen --- in all the smalltown relationships" Derek Elley, Variety.com

Cast: Nena Mendi, Maria Kavoyanni, Akyllas Karazissis, Joyce Eveidi, Yannis Tsimitselis, Alexis Georgoulis, Anna Kyriakou, Alexandros Antonopoulos, Jeannie Papadopoulou

Other credits:

Script: Michalis Reppas, Thanassis Papathanassiou
Cinematography: Lefteris Pavlopoulos
Sound recordist: Dinos Kittou
Set design: Antonis Daglidis
Costumes: Evelyn Sioupi
Music: Nikos Kypourgos
Editing: Ioanna Spiliopoulou
Executive in charge of production: Roula Nikolaou
Producer: Elena Hadzialexandrou
Production: Safe Company Ltd., Odeon S.A., Mega Channel, Filmnet, Greek Film Centre

Festivals:

· Berlin Film Fest 2004 Panorama section
· New Festival 2004 New York City GLFF
· Philadelphia International GLFF 2004

Michael Reppas & Thanassis Papathanassiou

Both were born in 1959. Thanassis Papathanassiou studied political science at the Panteion University of Athens and for one and a half years was a student at the Stavrakos Film School. Michael Reppas studied mathematics at Athens University, theatre at the National Theatre Drama School and for a year he was also a student at the Stavrakos Film School. The two have been working together since 1987, writing and directing for television, films and the stage.

Filmography:

1999 SAFE SEX, feature, 35mm, colour, 100'
2001 SILICON TEARS, 35mm, colour, 105'
2003 OXYGEN, 35mm, colour, 100'

Review:

Derek Elley - Variety.com - Jan 04

A scabrous black comedy, with the morality of an early Almodovar movie but without its pop-color look, "Oxygen" marks a return to the limelight by writing-helming duo Thanasis Papathanasiou and Mihalis Reppas, who helped the popular revival of mainstream Greek cinema with their debut movie, "Safe Sex," four years ago. A moderate success locally, boosted by a cast full of TV names, film deserves exposure in fest sidebars and cable outlets.
Action is set in a provincial town where an average, middle-class family is coming apart at the seams. Magda (Nena Mendi), the harried materfamilias, has an argumentative, facially scarred daughter, Yota (Jeannie Papadopoulou), who lives upstairs, and a son she dotes over, Hristos (Yannis Tsimitselis). Aside from having a girlfriend his own age, 20-year-old Hristos is also sleeping with both middle-aged chemistry teacher Vicky (Maria Kavoyanni) and her husband, Yorgos (Akylas Karazisis).

The greedy Yota and her husband, Stelios (Alexis Georgoulis), want Magda to sell some land she owns; but because it has sentimental value to her and her husband (Alexandros Antonopoulos) --- the latter a wheelchair vegetable since an auto accident --- Magda refuses, not wanting the plot to be used for a burger franchise. The man in charge of the redevelopment happens to be Yorgos, so Stelios, who knows about his gay friendship with Hristos, tries to pressure Yorgos into changing the plans.

The relationships are thrown for a further loop when Magda and Stelios start canoodling one day, Yorgos starts getting nervous about being exposed ("This isn't Athens," he tells Hristos), and other tongues start giving away secrets.

Shot on DV, with a highly mobile camera and (in its 35mm transfer) very cold colors, film plays like a heightened, grungier version of a small-screen soap, often deliberately overscored by composer Nikos Kypourgos like some grand Greek tragedy. (Both helmers began in TV.) Though it overstays its welcome --- and almost runs out of coupling permutations, pic remains a largely entertaining ride, anchored by vet Mendi's dignified playing as the mother and an increasingly chilling performance by Tsimitselis, as the manipulative, bisexual son.

Title stems from the sense of claustrophobia --- the lack of oxygen --- in all the smalltown relationships, though pic makes no attempt at sketching the geography of the place or even making it easy for the viewer in the early going to sort out who's who. Dialogue is exceptionally fruity, to which local audience at packed screening caught responded with a mixture of gasps and giggles.