“Stelios” is yet another example of why widely ignored Greek cinema should be no longer ignored by filmgoers.
It is an epic film marking the rise of legendary Greek singer Stelios Kazantzidis (Christos Mastoras) from abject poverty in an Athenian refugee camp into Greece’s most beloved singer.
“Big Stelios”, affectionately referred to in his native Greece, fled the Pontian region of Greece to Athens with his mother and infant brother in 1945 after his father, a suspected Communist, was bludgeoned to death by Monarchist fighters in front of Stelios and his mother.
Stelios was discovered by a passing musician walking on the street in Athens hearing his voice drifting from an open window. Initially he performed in a small taberna in Athens and progressed to larger bouzoukias and subsequently to a stellar recording career. His lamentations on the difficult life and the tortures of Greek romantic relationships captured the soul of Greeks both in Greece and the Greek diaspora throughout the world.
Having been to Greece many times and attended many Greek community events in North America I know the voice well. It is inescapable in Greece. It is magnetic and deeply soulful. Perhaps I might make a comparison of Big Stelios to B.B. King, Leona Boyd, Jimmy Hendrix and Frank Sinatra the latter being an admirer of Kazantzidis stating if he was singing in America, he would be more popular than me!
This film has all the elements of an epic; history, romance, a nasty and domineering mother-in-law “Fonissa” style, gangsters, manipulative music moguls and even absurdity a la Lanthimos!
That scene with the two gangsters crashing the bouzoukia with guns and grenades with one of them dancing revolver in hand is a priceless scene of terror and absurdity one might expect in a Lanthimos film! Surely this scene will be known as a classic Greek cinema moment.
Kazantzidis’ existential struggle, a central theme of the film, is between Stelios as a man and Kazantzidis as a legend. It examines the exploitation of Greek musicians by Columbia Records and Minos Records and Kazantzidis’ struggle to strike a fairer deal for musicians in Greece.
The film also points to the temper, selfishness, Oedipal complex and moral cruelty of Kazantzidis. The man was no saint.
The film has had theatrical releases in 15 countries and at a yet to be determined date in August will be released on VOD.
For Canadians the film can be viewed at the upcoming Greek International Film Festival Tour Canada screening in 11 Canadian cities 26September-5October2025. Check out their website for further details at https://gift.ca
In Greek with English subtitles.
You can watch the trailer for this 2024 film here: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=k9BoQ_GBaNY
Directed by Yorgos Tsemberopoulos.
RKS 2025 Greek Film Rating 95/100.
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