The protagonist, aged 40, lives in his car and receives his family at fixed times. His employer is a rich narcoleptic who can’t drive. The driver provides him with special honey. But when an even better driver comes along, he loses his job and decides to look for another means of transport.
Thimios Bakatakis Yannis Chalkiadakis Babis Makridis Dennis Iliadis Dimitris Papathomas Amanda Livanou Efthymis Filippou
L (Learning), L, Εγώ Είμαι
USA
Sundance Film Festival
GreeceΚ-12
Greece
USA
I don't know what they are smoking over there in Greece, but i hope they continue doing so.
Babis Makridis creates ultimate discomfort in the existence of his protagonist, whose heart beats only from the sensation of high speed.
The professional driver (Aris Servetaris) is disconnected from society, family, home and normal existence, preferring solitude and danger, putting himself at odds with the rest of the world. He delivers honey and kills time with his best friend, who is either dead or turned into a zombie bear. The earth gradually rejects the protagonist. Switching from a car to a motorcycle, he comes closer to realizing the fatality of life.
This is a bittersweet ode to the masculinity, despair, disappointment, self-destruction, mild madness, longing and self-discovery. Pure dadaism and self-denial. When the earth rejects you, only the sea accepts you. An elegant work with absurdist humour, complex dialogues and great lead acting.
What does the title "L" stand for? Let's guess. Love? Life? Longing? Lament? Lose? Light? Lord? Liberty?.. All and everything, as I believe.
I have no idea what's going on in Greece, but whatever it is it's making for some top-notch surreal absurdity, presented in glorious solemnity and Babis Makridis's L is yet another instance of this recent wave of Greek cinematic eccentricity; it makes sense given that L is co-written by Efthymis Filippou, the screenwriting kingpin of deadpan absurdism.
A man (Aris Servetalis) lives in his Volvo, but not in the way you think...he's a professional driver (you can tell by the gloves) and his job consists of picking up the finest honey and transporting it to a narcoleptic man. He obtained this job from his predecessor (Lefteris Matthaiou) after he was mistaken for a bear, shot and killed by a hunter,…
What I have been receiving all my life.. but anyways this is the kind of weirdo, absurd thing we like to see..
(Not exactly the easiest film to search for on Letterboxd, is this?)
Well, now I'm all but convinced that screenwriter Efthymis Filippou is low-key the secret MVP of the so-called (ugh) "Greek Weird Wave". Which is to say, I'm pretty sure his contributions account for at least 75% of what I enjoy about the films of Yorgos Lanthimos and Athina Rachel Tsangar. This also suggests that Filippou is probably the most notable screenwriter-as-auteur since Charlie Kaufman (who incidentally he shares more than a few stylistic similarities with). Looking at things this way, I think it actually makes a lot of sense that Lanthimos and Tsangar do have distinctive stylistic traits themselves, but not unlike those of Spike Jonze or Michel…
This Greek weird wave film, and director, never found the success that the director of Dogtooth or even the director Tsangari has gotten, and you may know why -- it may be just a little too weird, a little too dry, for some people. But if you are adventurous, then this is the kind of film for you. We have a man, living in his car, meeting his family in a parking lot every day. His job? Bringing honey to an old man. But it is too much for him, and eventually, things change... and becomes obsessed wit ha local motorcycle gang. So... you see what we mean. But the tone is great, and the cinematography is handsome and formal. It's worth seeing and worth seeing, if you can, the rest of Makridis's films... very dark, very absurd.
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Yunanistan'ın Kaurismaki'si(?)
kalıbına sığamamak, ait hissedememek, yalnızlık, çaresizlik, apichatpong.
moonlight sonat'ını duymak mı? işte bu enfesti. (reviewed by burakkurupinar)
boşu geçecek olursak çok hoş bir deneyimdi. hiç bitmesin istedim. babis abimiz kaliteli bir abimizmiş, aris abimiz de çok kalite oyuncuymuş. geçen sene listeye aldığım bu filmi bu kadar geç zamana bırakmış olmak(filmi izledikten sonra) beni üzdü. kamera nefis, landscapeler daha da nefisti. burak abimizin dediklerine katılıyor, daha fazla uzatmıyorum.
θάλασσα είστε θαυμάσιοι
I don’t know what they’ve put in the water in Greece but if Babis Makridis’ stunning debut feature, L is anything to go by, it is something potently mind-altering and dangerously brain damaging.
Makridis’ absurd comedy doesn’t rely much on narrative. There certainly is one there (something involving fresh honey, a man who thought he was a bear, non-slip boat shoes and killers in Volvos) but it is somewhat incidental to this quirky tone poem of a film.
The protagonist, a man simply known as Man (played by Aris Servetalis), lives in his car. He drives. He picks up honey. He takes his kids on trips around the roundabout. It is a lonely existence but he is satisfied until he…
I thought this was a prequel to Fritz Lang’s M. Holy shit, what a disappointment.
This was a lot of fun though. A pretty great addition to Greek’s Weird Wave; really enjoyed the dry comedy and surreal absurdity in this one.
The Driver picks up jars of honey and delivers them and drives his two children in repeated circles around a roundabout. He is visited by his deceased best friend and colleague who has taken on the characteristics of the bear he was mistaken for when shot and killed. We do not see The Driver outside the confines of his vehicle until he loses his honey delivery job and encounters a group of motorcyclists. The Driver takes his footwear very seriously.
Yup, this is not a straight-forward narrative, Babis Makridis’ first feature sitting side-by-side with the new-wave of Greek weirdness typified by Lanthimos and Tsangari. Your appetite for such an experience will verily dictate your ‘enjoyment’ of this film, an abstract,…
If ever a film could encapsulate the highs and lows of an entire movement, it might be this. It has the typical stoic and statuesque performances that people have come to expect from fellow Greek filmmakers such as Yorgos Lanthimos, the static camerawork and the absurd storylines. It also has a genuine lack of cohesion and often feels as if its being weird because it has to be.
FIlms such as "L" came about during such an economically and socially turbulent time for Greece, that it seems foolish to distance the country and its troubles from the art it produces. Usually the troubles are a catalyst for the art. Such seems to be the case here. There are several plot…
a pretty big L
