The Summer with Carmen

Originality and an outstanding performance from Andreas Labropoulos distinguish Zacharias Mavroeidis’ unusual comedy-drama from Greece.

Image courtesy of Peccadillo Pictures.

This gay film from Greece is far from perfect but it is unusually interesting as well as being highly individual. It is, in fact, a first feature by director Zacharias Mavroeidis who is also the writer here in collaboration with Xenofon Chalatsis. Between them they have created a film that is ambitious in its originality seeking to be in turn playful and serious and offering gay audiences what they are known to like within a structure that is highly unusual. The two central characters are gay friends who first met as aspiring young actors. But now Demosthenes (Yorgos Tsiantoulas) is working in an office and Nikitas (Andreas Labropoulos), who finds acting roles hard to come by due to his obvious sexuality, is devoting himself to becoming a filmmaker. Nevertheless, these two having previously teamed up to write to play entitled Sissies are now sharing ideas for a screenplay requested by a French producer who is seeking to make a cheap movie with gay appeal. For a storyline they discuss utilising the events of the summer before last when Demosthenes had broken up with his then partner, Panos (Nikolaos Mihas).

Such material could have been treated in a variety of ways but Mavroeidis has chosen a novel approach which brings out the comedy in the situation by self-consciously playing up the idea that this is a film about filmmaking. A tongue-in-cheek opening involves writing up on screen what are declared to be ‘The Golden Rules of Screenwriting’, the first of which is that a movie should have three Acts and the others being that ‘Every movie has a hero’, ‘Every hero has a goal’ and 'Every hero changes in pursuit of his goal’. In keeping with this the film will indeed contain three Acts and it will also label at the appropriate time ‘Plot Point 1’ and ‘Plot Point 2’. Furthermore, as the two men discuss how their screenplay might develop their chosen material, we see fully enacted scenes which could be regarded as the actual story of Demosthenes told in a series of flashbacks or as a representation of the film that they are imagining based on this. It is certainly the latter when they briefly consider presenting it as a musical and we have a drag queen on screen (Aria di Vine) performing the Habanera from Bizet’s Carmen.

However, it is not only this aspect that gives The Summer with Carmen a character out of the ordinary. It also contains very contrasted elements. Fitting in with what the French producer is wanting is the idea of giving gay male audiences what they like, lots of nudity. This is partly done by having most of the discussions between Demosthenes and Nikitas take place on a gay beach in Athens where nudity abounds and also by including various sex scenes in which Demosthenes is paired either with Panos or by a fresh occasional partner named Thymios (Vasilis Tsigristaris). But, if that represents the gay film genre at its most commercial, even this aspect is given a character of its own in that Mavroeidis is notably at ease and relaxed in giving his film unashamed and potent sensuality.

If that is a virtue, so too is the fact that, despite the storyline’s emphasis on the sex life of Demosthenes, the central relationship here is the platonic one between two highly contrasted gay men who are firm friends. To focus on that is unusual and rewarding with their repartee convincingly caught and the portrayal of Nikitas is of special interest. The actor concerned, Andreas Labropoulos, brings complete conviction to the role and handles superbly the film’s most serious scene in which Nikitas describes his unhappy childhood. It seems safe to say that Labropoulos provides the finest and most sympathetic portrait of an effeminate gay character since Michel Serrault’s superb performance in La cage aux folles back in 1978.

There is fascination too when, on going over the old events that could feed into their screenplay, we find Demosthenes often challenging the way in which Nikita describes them. Less the fallibility of memory than building up one's own truth, this issue is convincingly incorporated providing extra depth while on the popular level Mavroeidis successfully throws into the mix a dog named Carmen. Acquired by Panos who soon tires of her, she is then taken over by Demosthenes who understandably becomes attached to her since Nala who appears in this role is such an appealing animal. There is a neat use of music in the film too, but other things go less well. There is absolutely no chemistry between Tsiantoulas and Mihas which matters since what they feel for each other remains a central issue and Tsiantoulas himself while a fitting hunk suited to the central role is in acting terms totally put in the shadow by Labropoulos (although to be fair the writing may well contribute to that). The knowing jokes about structuring films like this one also undermine any more serious intent in contrasting the value of being creative against a lifestyle centred on sexual encounters (indeed on occasion it is less than certain whether a scene is to be taken seriously or viewed as being parodic). It needs, I think, to be acknowledged that The Summer with Carmen has some distinct weaknesses, but the really good things in it have a distinction that renders them a very pleasant surprise.

Original title: To kalokairi tis Karmen.

MANSEL STIMPSON

Cast: Yorgos Tsiantoulas, Andreas Labropoulos, Nikolaos Mihas, Roubini Vasilakopoulou, Vasilis Tsigristaris, Clio Chavgie, Nandia Margariti, Jacques Simha, Stavros Karabatsos, Aria Di Vine and Nala.

Dir Zacharias Mavroeidis, Pro Ioanna Bolomyti, Screenplay Zacharias Mavroeidis and Xenofon Chalatsis, Ph Thodoros Mihopoulos, Pro Des Aliki Kouvaka, Ed Livia Neroutsopoulou, Music Ted Regklis, Costumes Katerina Zovra.

Atalante Productions S.A./Argonauts/Be For Films/Athens Productions S.A./Hellenic Broadcasting Corporation-Peccadillo Pictures.
106 mins. Greece. 2023. UK Rel: 28 February 2025. Cert. 18.