One lifetime is not enough, for all my words – Koraly Dimitriadis

Greek Film Festival: Well kept secrets – Athanasia

September 13, 2009 at 2:12 am (Reviews) (Athanasia, Greek Film festival, Greek film festival 2009, Greek film festival Melbourne, Melbourne Greek film festival 2009, Panos Karkanevatos, review Athanasia, Well kept secrets Athanasia)

Athanasia was born in Greece but lives in America with her American husband. She has one daughter, Angela, who is also married, and one grandchild. However, the secrets of Athanasia’s past haunt her relationship with her daughter. When Angela learns that her American father is not her biological father, she returns to Greece to find her real father and to uncover her mother’s past.

The narrative of the film moves from the present to Athanasia’s heartbreaking past and back again. There were moments where I was moved to tears by all the hardship that Athanasia endured. However, it was unclear by the end of the film if Angela, the daughter, had uncovered Athanasia’s story. The film moves from the past to the present but the two don’t seem to be linked in any way.

The pace of the film was slow to begin with and then quickly became interesting. I waited in anticipation for confrontation but unfortunately, not much came. There were many opportunities in this film for confrontation between characters that wasn’t seized. Instead the director, Panos Karkanevatos, chose to keep the characters silent and played dramatic music – which became irritating after a while. Because of this reluctance (or fear) by the director to show anger, frustration or dialogue at these moments, the characters seemed two-dimensional and were slightly irritating. Another interesting part of the story which was cut out completely, was how the relationship between Athanasia and her future American husband unfolded.

Well kept secrets, Athanasia is a film with a heartbreaking story, but unfortunately not the best film it could have been. Still, many will enjoy it, especially for it’s ability to show how judgmental and destructive people in a small village in Greece can be to an innocent young woman.

Koraly’s rating 2 1/2 stars