STELIOS (YPARXO)
The brilliant biopic on the life and career of the legendary singer Stelios Kazantzidis is one of the most successful Greek films ever made. It opened in Greece and Cyprus back in December and it is still packing them into the cinemas. I saw it a couple of months ago at the Nicosia Cineplex so it’s great that is now a getting a cinema release here in the UK as well. Yorgos Tsemberopoulos directs with flair and style and in Christos Mastoras he has found the perfect man to inhabit the popular singer’s life. The story is told in flashback when a journalist finds Stelios fishing in his boat on a remote beach and asks him questions about his life and childhood.
Stelios is born in Greece after his Pontic family were thrown out of Turkey, and at the age of 16, he also loses his father, who fell victim to the treacherous civil war. His loving mother then packs their packs and heads towards Athens, where the undisputed talent of Stelios is recognised from a young age…
The film works so well thanks to the inspired casting – Mastoras is a Greek born in Albania and is an established and very popular singer, who, in this role of a lifetime, is not just miming but sings Kazantzidis’ classic songs including the title song “Yparxo”. He is truly a commanding presence and shares a terrific chemistry with Klelia Renesi as Katy Grey and Asimenia Voulioti as Marinella, the two most important women in his life and career.
It is worth seeing just for the title song alone!
Book your tickets now via www.twofresh.co.uk/stelios-moviehttp://www.twofresh.co.uk/stelios-movie