Movies:
I Earini Synaxis Ton Agrofylakon
- Main Cast: Takis Agoris
- Release Year: 2000
- Country: GR
- Run Time: 177 minutes
Plot
This is both a gentle comedy about rural life and a sly allegory for Greek history of the past 40 years. Greek director Dimos Avdeliodis divides the film into four untitled sections (shot by four different cinematographers). It opens with the abrupt death of a guard in the rural village of Tholopotami. The community has a bad reputation among rural guards, and initially no one wants to take the job. When Tholopotami offers some financial inducements, four candidates eventually come out of the woodwork. The first guard (Takis Agoris) patrols the lots with his dog and his old rifle. After the local peasants slash his tires, he resigns himself to lounging beneath a tree. One day, he sees something strange and runs after it, only to get repeatedly stung by bees. The next guard (Yannis Tsoubariotis), is as overzealous as the first one was lazy. He always carries a loaded gun and does everything to the letter of the law. After he spies some school kids stealing an orange, he marches them back to town. Displeased with his strong-arm tactics, the villagers sack him. Later, after thoroughly drowning his sorrows at the local bar, he follows a beautiful hoyden lass and falls into a pool. The third guard (Stelios Makrias) is genial and conciliatory, but his passion for illegal gambling puts him in the poor house and eventually gets him arrested. The young fourth guard (Angelos Pandelaras) manages to track down the mysterious, yet beautiful thief (Angeliki Malandi) who beguiled his predecessors. Though the movie is set during the 1960s, it lends itself as a commentary on Greece's contemporary history: from the bucolic, traditionally minded '50s, to the military repression of the '60s, through the uneasy rapprochement between people and state. This film earned rave reviews at the 1999 Thessaloniki Film Festival. ~ Jonathan Crow, All Movie GuideCast
- Takis Agoris - Rural Guard (Summer)
