The Counterfeit Coin

Η Κάλπικη Λίρα
I Kalpiki lira

The 50th anniversary of the release of one of the most significant films in Greek cinema.

With the assistance of a femme fatale, an honest jeweller (Vasilis Logothetidis) is convinced by one his friends to invest his entire life savings -100 gold sovereigns- towards the manufacture of a single counterfeit coin. The plan eventually fails and the film reveals with majestic artistry the stories of those who come across the counterfeit coin.
   It initially falls into the hands of a beggar (Mimis Fotopoulos), who pretends to be blind. Whilst realising that the coin is counterfeit, he decides to use it for the purpose of spending a night with the prostitute (Sperantza Vrana) who frequents the vicinity where he begs, competing with him for a meagre existence.
   The next person to take possession of the counterfeit coin is a poor painter, who is pursued by his affluent landlord (Orestis Makris). When the painter dies, the plight of his orphaned daughter touches the heart of the cantankerous old man, who soon mellows.
   The counterfeit coin eventually finds its way to a newlywed couple. The film transports us to the humble home of a young couple (Elli Lambeti and Dimitris Horn) struggling to make ends meet.
   The counterfeit coin is used to highlight the social divisions of Athens during the 1950s. The Counterfeit Coin was the first Greek film that enjoyed international recognition. It is generally regarded as one of the greatest Greek films ever produced.


Director: Giorgos Tzavellas | Rating: R 18+ | 1955 | Comedy / Drama | 127 minutes | Greek dialogue with English subtitles

Director's Bio - Giorgos Tzavellas

Giorgos Tzavellas (1916-1976) was born in Athens. He studied law but soon turned to writing plays, his first play being The One who Stole my Heart (1936). In 1944 he helped in the creation of the "mature" Greek cinema by writing and directing Applause (1944), in which Attik, the aged sage and compere, plays himself in a moving story. Tzavellas went on to make many successful comedies: The Chauffeur (1953), We only live once (1958), And the Wife Shall Revere her Husband (1965), and melodramas: The Drunkard (1950), Blood Christmas (1951) the epic, Marinos Kontaras (1948) and a film version of the ancient tragedy Antigone (1961).

DIRECTOR's – PREVIOUS FILMS

Marinos Kontaras (1948)

The Drunkard (1950)

Blood Christmas (1951)

Grousouzis (1952)

Agnes of the Port (1952)

The Taxi Driver (1953)

The Sheperdess’ Lover (1955)

The Counterfeit Coin (1955)

Ziliarogatos (1956)

We Have Only One Life (1958)

Antigone (1961)

And the Wife Shall Revere her Husband (1965)

Ston Asterismo tis Parthenou (1973)
 

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