Miracle of the Sargasso Sea (The)
Original Title
To thávma tis thálassas ton Sargassón- Director: Syllas Tzoumerkas
- Writer: Syllas Tzoumerkas; Youla Boudali
- Producer: Maria Drandaki
CGiii Comment
Structure is everything...especially in film! Strong foundations are crucial...without them everything falls apart. Ironically, this film has the strongest of foundations - the opening scene is fierce. And then, sadly, it literally falls apart...for a while...waiting for something to happen...when that 'thing' eventually does [belatedly] happen, the audience couldn't care less. Why? Because...what Syllas Tzoumerkas [erroneously] did is to make his central character so bloody unlikeable that you don't give a hoot if this drunken police chief solves the [long awaited] crime or not. Obviously, she does...in an absolute [inconceivable] flash!
All this film needed was a brutal script editor, someone who could see the wood behind the trees. Quite possibly, Mr Tzoumerkas' intention was to present humdrum daily monotony as a foil against the abject disturbia that follows. It certainly is as disturbing as disturbing gets...but, the lead up, all that flaff...well, disappointingly so, let's just say that there was way too much flaffing around before the final event and leave it at that!
Trailer...
The(ir) Blurb...
Elisabeth is police chief of the Greek coastal town of Mesolongi. When she speaks, it sounds like angry barking. She drinks too much, constantly swears and is sleeping with a married doctor. Her transfer from Athens to this small fishing village ten years ago still rankles with her. Her adolescent son Dimitris is all too familiar with his mother’s moods. If she overdoes it after a shared dinner in a bar, he goes home. Rita comes from Mesolongi and works in a factory; her brother is something of a local celebrity. He sometimes makes her join him on stage during his club appearances. Rita is also deeply dissatisfied. But then a death tears apart the already fragile network of relationships between the villagers, revealing an even more damaged structure beneath.
Syllas Tzoumerkas’s third film portrays an extraordinary policewoman in the shape of Elisabeth. His protagonist is bulky, frustrated and ungracious. Angeliki Papoulia’s brilliant performance and the surprisingly shocking plot of To Thávma tis thálassas ton Sargassón (The Miracle of the Sargasso Sea) means we are served up a small-town nightmare garnished with eels and several layers of interpretation.
Cast & Characters
Angeliki Papoulia as Elisabeth
Youla Boudali as Rita
Hristos Passalis as Manolis
Argyris Xafis as Vassilis
Thanasis Dovris as Michalis
Laertis Malkotsis as Andreas
Maria Filini as Axel
Michalis Kimonas as Vangelis
Christian Culbida as Dimitris
Thanos Tokakis as Priest
Laertis Vasiliou as Grigoris
Katerina Helmy as Mother
Alkistis Poulopoulou as Faye
Romanos Kalokyris as Student in Athens
Areti Seidaridou as Eleftheria