Image: via greekfilmfestival.com.au
Two outcast brothers try to find their place in the world, embarking upon an adventurous journey both literally and figuratively. It’s the type of coming-of-age narrative that appears so commonly on the page and screen that it borders on cliché, and though Greek feature Xenia does little that is different with the storyline, it does approach its well-worn concept with style, sweetness and a hint of subversiveness and surrealism. Opening the film with a close-up of a rabbit, the image accompanied by sounds of amorous activity, is just the beginning. In his fourth outing, writer/director Panos H. Koutras (A Woman’s Way) dwells in routine confines but renders it with enough thoughtful flair to transcend the feeling of familiarity.
Almost 16 years old and with the flamboyant spirit to match, Dany (Kostas Nikouli, Forever Young) is the owner of the aforementioned bunny and the recipient of initial romantic attention. Farewelling his lover and departing his Cretan home, he heads to Athens to reunite with his elder brother Odysseas (newcomer Nikos Gelia), pursuing a plot of family, fame and fortune his true intention. Their Albanian mother recently passed away, and to stay in the country, they must hunt down the Greek father that left them over a decade earlier. Another flight of fancy also fuels their dreams: capitalising upon Odysseas’ singing voice by entering a televised talent competition.
The term for the Ancient Greek notion of hospitality towards strangers provides Xenia with its name, and its relevance to the film and its nation of origin – both ironically and earnestly – is never in doubt. As the siblings undertake a road trip ending in Thessaloniki, they encounter friends and foes equally welcoming and menacing across all social classes, traversing standard episodic jaunts in which acceptance and acrimony alternate. When the second act comes to an end, they clumsily stumble upon a deserted hotel that also uses the word as its moniker, its symbolism clear and its thematic resonance evident. Of course, as the message often is in such offerings, the brothers may start out seeking external validation but all they really need is each other; once more, parallels within a country trying to piece together its own new identity in the wake of tragedy are apparent.
In their first film roles, the fresh-faced, non-professional Nikouli and Gelia are responsible for much of the movie’s verve, making cordial companions throughout the over-long effort. Though their portrayals are unpolished, they remain as engaging as they are sincere. There’s a spark in the former’s eye that cannot be extinguished, even when dealing with weightier themes of homophobia, immigrant discrimination and absent paternal influences, whilst the latter brings considered realism to the older and wiser of the central duo. Their supports flit in and out, with Romanna Lobats’ (Sto spiti) fellow aspiring musician making the biggest impact; however from start to finish, the feature remains in the thrall of its sibling protagonists and their performers.
Xenia’s other highlight is a willingness to experiment with its colourful expression of Dany’s fragile emotional state, once more mirroring the hurt seething through his adopted home. The prominence of his hopping friend in various guises segues into other animal manifestations and dreamlike flourishes, at their best when the character is at his most confused and overwhelmed. It’s the small things – reclining on a patch of grass that becomes a scruffy expanse of chest hair, and gliding down a river lined by wildlife custodians, for example – that creates lasting images, the brief diversions away from the standard. Accordingly, Xenia becomes the most amiable of cinematic excursions: it rarely goes anywhere unexpected, but when it does, it makes the otherwise ordinary effort worth the time and effort.
Rating: 3 stars out of 5
Xenia
Director: Panos H. Koutras
Greece, 2014, 128 mins
Greek Film Festival
Sydney: 14 October – 2 November
Melbourne: 15 October – 2 November
Brisbane: 30 October – 2 November
Perth: 20 – 23 November
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