RKS 2023 Film: Vancouver Greek Film Festival: “Holy Emy”: Like No Other Greek Film!

The second annual Vancouver Greek Film Festival (VGFF) runs from 1-4 June 2023. It presents an eclectic offering of contemporary and classic Greek cinema. This year the Festival kicks off a calendar of events organized by The Hellenic Canadian Congress of British Columbia during Greek Heritage Month which culminates in “Greek Day on Broadway” one of Vancouver’s most famous street festivals on June 25th.

Greek film has made great strides in the last two decades emerging from slapstick comedy to films dealing with contemporary social issues not afraid to take aim at Greek politics, religion and governmental bureaucracy.

Christos Dikeakos a visual artist and co-founder of the VGFF states, “The programme presents a myriad of stories and experiences about the human condition, offering insight into the minds of Greek filmmakers that is at once intimate and universal.”

“Holy Emy” is like no other Greek film. In fact it has transcended Hellenism and is like no other film. And it is like a minefield to review with any depth lest it be ruined for you dear viewer. Although set in Greece, mostly Piraeus, it has a universality that propels it beyond Greece.

Emy (Abigael Loma) and Teresa (Hasmine Killip) are Filipinas living in Piraeus. Their mother Pilar has left back to the Philippines with hints of evil spirits and witchcraft leaving young Teresa and her younger sister Emy behind. Teresa is heavily ensconced in the small Pilipino Roman Catholic Church community practicing a quasi-gospel born again sing along Third World Catholicism. Emy is seen as an outsider and regarded with suspicion with Linda, a quasi mom, urging Emy be baptized so the “Holy Spirit” can enter her. Why does Emy cry tears of blood?

Why is Madame Christina so hated by many of the Filipino Roman Catholics? Is she running a Filipino psychic healing bordello? Why was Pilar “working” there?

Although ostensibly a devout Catholic Teresa is knocked up willingly by Greek lout Argyris who meets a fishy ending. Why was Pilar chased out of Greece?

I really am handcuffed here about further descriptions of this 2021 film. A mix of Hitchcock and Cronenberg. Think of films “Nightmare Alley”, “A Face in the Crowd”, “Carrie” and the “Exorcist” and you’ll get all of that in this film.

How could I categorize this film for you? A mystery? A thriller? A chiller?

Speaking of chilling the ending is the ultimate shiver! A saint on an Athenian bus?

The film won two 2022 Hellenic Film Awards. Killip won Best Supporting Actress and Araceli Lemos Best Director.

In Tagalog, Greek and English with English subtitles.

Shows 2June at 20:30.

RKS 2023 Film Rating 96/100.

RKS Literature: Zorba the Greek on Greek and Slavic Women!

“You’d better know, Boss, that the Slavic woman isn’t like these cheap, selfish, self-seeking Greek women who sell sex by the gram and do everything they can to slip it to you underweight, cheating you on the scales. The Slavic woman, Boss, has scales that measure overweight. She gives something extra in sleep, sex and meals. She’s closely related to animals, closely related to earth. She gives, gives in abundance, is not a skinflint like those trinket-selling Greek girls.”

Nikos Kazantzakis “Zorba the Greek” 1952

RKS 2023 Wine: Yalumba Organic Viognier: Gewurztraminer in Handcuffs?

Reasonably priced Viognier is difficult to find. One of the better “budget” Viogniers I have encountered is the Yalumba Y Series Viognier found in the general list of the Liquor Control Board of Ontario (LCBO) which sells for $15.40. And more often than not it is sold out. How does Yalumba’s 2021 organic Viognier fare?

Aroma: Peach, apricot, and mango with rose petals.

Palate: You’ll be greeted by peach and mango with a slightly abrasive edge quite similar to many Encruzados from the Dão region in Portugal. Moderate finish. It is no tutti frutti so don’t be spooked when you hear peach and mango!

Food Pairing: A few years ago as a speaker at a wine event in Lake Erie North Shore one of the foods served was a wood burning oven pizza topped with amongst other things fresh just picked peaches. Boy the Gewurztraminer with it was a match made in heaven. This would do just as well assuming you can find a wood burning oven and a pizza maker audacious enough to top pizza with peaches! Also grilled chicken with peach and avocado salsa is mucho bueno!

Cellarbility: I suggest consuming in 2023.

Personality: If you like those dry acidic wines with the personality of a fruit fly and I won’t rat them out by name as after all they are my bothers and sisters well this wine is not for you. While I am food friendly I can be consumed solo. As summer is approaching a wonderful pre barbeque wine!

RKS 2023 Wine Rating: 91/100. Sam Kim 94.

Price: $16.95 (Ontario).

(Yalumba 2021 Organic Viognier, South Australia, Yalumba, Angaston, Australia, 750 mL, 13.5%, LCBO #288217).

RKS 2023 Film: Vancouver Greek Film Festival: “Magnetic Fields”

The second annual Vancouver Greek Film Festival (VGFF) runs from 1-4 June 2023. It presents an eclectic offering of contemporary and classic Greek cinema. This year the Festival kicks off a calendar of events organized by The Hellenic Canadian Congress of British Columbia during Greek Heritage Month which culminates in “Greek Day on Broadway” one of Vancouver’s most famous street festivals on June 25th.

Greek film has made great strides in the last two decades emerging from slapstick comedy to films dealing with contemporary social issues not afraid to take aim at Greek politics, religion and governmental bureaucracy.

Christos Dikeakos a visual artist and co-founder of the VGFF states, “The programme presents a myriad of stories and experiences about the human condition, offering insight into the minds of Greek filmmakers that is at once intimate and universal.”

The 2021 film “Magnetic Fields” is a 78-minute film directed by Yorgos Goussis.

Antonis (Antonis Tsiotsiopoulos) and Elena (Elena Topalidou) meet on a ferry in Greece heading to a coastal destination. Antonis has car problems as he leaves the ferry and Elena gives him a lift into the main town. Antonis is a big bear of a man with a beard and his red beanie. Elena, mostly hiding behind sunglasses, is a bit quirky full of odd philosophical reflections.

Antonis is single and a man who fears the burdens of love and for him it poses the danger of rejection. Elena is more of the moment person yakking about love in a grand fashion but is miserable and out of love and full of self loathing.

A deep philosophical drama? Perhaps but a huge comedic element as Antonis has a silver box containing the remains of his distant aunt he really knows nothing about but wanted to be buried at the destination where Antonis and Elena arrived. They tour the island looking to bury Auntie’s remains. A huge dramatic argument ensues at the church’s cemetery between church officials and Antonis which is so beautifully Greek it is to be savoured. Half acting and half sincerity! As Auntie was not a citizen of the municipality nor had been a donor to the church she can’t be buried where she had wished. Poor Auntie dies a second death. A horribly violent death a la “Thelma and Louise”.

In the search for an appropriate burial site for Auntie, Elena and Antonis bond platonically or sexually? Your choice on that.

Elena is a lost soul. Uncertain of herself and full of self loathing she deteriorates before your eyes looking haggard and increasingly miserable with her career as a dancer and her stature as a human being. Antonis has been wounded by love. Elena has fallen out of love. Will they connect? Or is life full of misery? Aristotle any thoughts on this?

A love story? A comedy? A satirical look at artsy films? Sexual tension pitted against a philosophical view of love?

At times some remarkable cinematography with some retro blurriness particularly the washed-out road scene. Has the Greek Orthodox church lost realistic connections with its parishioners?

Viewers can take away several interpretations of the film but being somewhat immersed in the Greek diaspora and current Greek society this film is a treasure trove of subtleties!

The film won five Hellenic Film Academy Awards in 2022.

Directed by Yorgos Goussis.

You can see the trailer here https://vimeo.com/643840524

The film can be seen on 3June in Vancouver at the Cinematheque.

RKS 2023 Film Rating 91/100.

RKS 2023 Wine: Greek Up n Comer: Assyrtiko?

Greek white wines made from the Assyrtiko grape may be leading the charge for “the white wine” of Greece. Santorini with its volcanic terroir is the most famous producer of wines made from Assyrtiko but prices are high for these Santorini wines. Mega Spileo in the Achaia region of Greece produces a more affordable Assyrtiko.

Having attended a Santorini Volcanic Terroir tasting in Toronto recently I tried to sum up Santorini Assyrtiko by such words as lemon, ginger, custard and lime with varying degrees of acidity and length of finish. Having just returned from Pico Island in the Azores which has volcanic soil like Santorini I can say the Pico white wines were more piercing with higher degrees of acidity.

Most Assyrtiko wines are suited to ocean fish including shellfish. I had a few sips with Malpeque Oysters at the Santorini tasting and that was an ideal match. Oak aged Santorini Assyrtiko may also suit grilled lamb and chicken.

This Mega Spileo 2021 Assyrtiko deserves a try if you aren’t willing to shell out $37-$70 for some of the Santorini Assyrtiko I tried.

Aroma: Lemon, lime, guava and ginger rather similar to the Santorini Assyrtiko.

Palate: Very dry but without raging acidity. Lemon, guava with a hint of caramel. Short finish lacking in complexity.

Food Pairing: Oysters or simply prepared limpets. Sea bream and sea bass or porgy with a sauce of olive oil, oregano and lemon served with vleta known in Ontario as pegweed or perhaps callaloo. This wine is not sipping wine. Built for seafood.

Personality: I am not ashamed to say I am a wine that suits a limited range of foods as that is what I am best suited for!

Price: $19.95 (Ontario).

RKS 2023 Wine Rating: 86/100.

(Mega Spileo Assyrtiko 2021, PGI Achaia, Mega Spileo Winery, Aigio Gefira Meganiti, Greece, 750 mL, 12.5%, Liquor Control Board of Ontario # 31680).

RKS Literature: Zorba the Greek and Russia

“Everything’s in abundance out there near the Caucasus. Boss; everything’s loose, in bulk. You just choose and take. And not just cantaloupes or watermelons like you may think, but also fish, butter-and women. You’re in the area, you see a watermelon, you take it; you see a woman, you take her. Not like here in the wretched Greek state where, if you pinch as much as a leaf off someone’s watermelon plant, the grower brings you to court and where, if you touch a woman, out comes her brother’s butcher knife to make mincemeat of you. Meanness, money grubbing, what’s yours and what’s mine. Damn it, get lost you scabby dogs! If a person wants to see nobility, let him go to Russia! “

Nikos Kazantzakis “Zorba the Greek” 1952

RKS 2023 Films: “Woman Meets Girl”: The Hooker and the Horny Sex Starved Bookkeeper!

“Woman Meets Girl” will be premiering on the opening night of the Vancouver Short Film Festival on June 2, 2023 at the VIFF Centre.

In these overly politically correct times we live in I will be prevented from disembarking from my flight to Vancouver from Toronto to watch the film by gangs of angry mobs hating my description of the film as a hooker meeting the horny bookkeeper. A lack of sensitivity the crowd roars! Queer hater! Old geezer!

Should I change my slant and say 42-year-old bookkeeper Anabelle (Enuka Okuma) discovers her sensuality in a caring and dignified fashion to an 18-year-old sex worker Tessie (Chelsea Russel) and everything is just copasetic with the world. You see the word “hooker” is misogynist right? And is it right to say a bookkeeper is a horny repressed type?

Should I make it through the hostile Vancouver crowd calling me a Pat Brown resurrection and throwing “Hey Doll” refrains at me I might face the microphones and say this is a tight, suspenseful sexually charged drama about two emotionally damaged women seeking some Marvin Gaye sexual healing! And if you give me the opportunity to say I really like this short for its high tension and sensitivity I may just win an award as a film critic realizing in a generous humanistic fashion he requires gender sensitivity training. Until then and before I am sent to a re-education camp I really do love this short. Despite the cheap booze, nail extensions, cut off shorts with butt cheeks hanging out and a bookkeeper that looks like a nun! Okuma and Russel gel marvellously on-screen!

Stay tuned for my press conference at an undisclosed White Spot location where Uncle Ben’s Beer and gooseberry pie will be served!

Directed by Murry Peters.

RKS Film Rating 93/100.

RKS 2023 Wine: Massive Portuguese Producer José Maria da Fonseca’s Periquita 2020 Reserva

JMF was founded in 1834 and still sails on. The Periquita 2020 Reserva is 54% Castellan, 28% Touriga Nacional and 18% Touriga Franca. It is produced in the Setúbal Peninsula. Close to 1,000,000 bottles were produced. That’s a lot of wine. Can quality survive this volume?

Aged 8 months in French and American oak.

Grown in sandy soil.

Aroma: Black cherry, raspberry, blueberry and mature strawberry.

Palate: Serious, a bit stiff and formal. No lose or sloppy edges. Blackberry, cassis and blueberry with moderate tannins and a medium length finish.

Personality: I come from a big family with huge production volumes but I maintain my own identity.

Cellarbility: The wine will marginally improve up to the end of 2025 and cruise until 2027.

Food Match: Peppercorn steak or mushroom bourguignon.

Price: $18.95 (Ontario).

RKS 2023 Wine Rating: 89/100. Roger Voss The Wine Enthusiast 90/100.

(Periquita 2020 Reserva, Vinho Regional Península de Setúbal, José Maria da Fonseca, Setúbal, Portugal, 750 mL, 13%, Liquor Control Board of Ontario # 488007).

RKS Wine 2023: KISSING Montepulciano D’Abruzzo

A good Montepulciano D’Abruzzo is simple and satisfying. Perhaps like this commentary. Oh, I should add while in the corporate world one of the slogans I encountered (or better said was battered over my head for a particular year) was Keep It Simply Simple (KISS). You might wish to observe that everything could be kept simple except for the calculation of the bonuses of the “Senior Management Team” that defied all logic. Greed can lose itself in “complications”.

Aroma: Grape, plum and slate.

Palate: Not many tannins here. Can we say COSTCO generic? Unassuming therefore unoffending? It hits the throat in a tidal wave bashing its way around the mouth and just lingers refusing to leave.

Personality: You’ll love me. I will love you. Woodstock again! I’ll be your…what do those Americans say…”house wine”. Buy lots of me!

Food Match: Almost any food will do except for plainly, not tomato sauce, versions of fish. Grilled squid and octopus will be well rewarded with this wine!

Cellarbility: Enjoy in 2023! This wine will be back soon!

Price:  $17.95(Ontario).

RKS 2023 Wine Rating; 87/100. If there was such category as a versality and affable score 97/100! KISS this this wine!

(Niro Di Citra 2018 Montepulciano DOC, Citra Vina, Ortona, Italy, 750 mL, 13.5%, Liquor Control Board of Ontario # 278150).

RKS 2023 Wine: Sick and Tired of Argentinian Malbec! Canaries in a Coal Mine?

In the past week alone I have heard two friends say they are sick and tired of Argentinian Malbec. Is this how the winemakers of Argentina are rewarded for a never-ending stream of excellent Malbec! Yes wine is a fickle business. The cure for Malbec fatigue is simply to drink it occasionally. These Malbec veterans serve as a canary in the coal mine. What canary will flutter in wine country next? New Zealand Sauvignon Blanc? California Chardonnay? Italian Pinot Grigio?

Skirting any further debate on to an Alta-Yarí Reserva Malbec from the Uco Valley.

Aroma: Thank goodness after 10 minutes the funk has disappeared. Malbec can do no wrong. Lush and plush to describe Malbec? Are my descriptors becoming a bit redundant and God forbid tiresome?  OK then plum, lavender, red currant and black cherry.

Palate: Smooth lush and plush etc. etc. etc. Quite a big dollop of blueberry with lesser notes of blackberry. I sense raging acidity but thank goodness it is in check but its presence is worrying. Is it volatile and ready to bust out of its polite structural prison? Short finish.

Personality: Those nice humans who grew me did so at over 1,300 metres so I am quite tight but I am still a bit young and wrapped up in a tight structure.

Cellarbility: If the acidity remains in check and that is difficult to predict the wine will open up by 2025 and coast into 2028.The acidity makes me nervous as it could easily ruin the wine. Caveat Emptor!

Food pairing: Argentinian asado. I do need to visit Argentina to widen my gastronomical experience. There must be more than meat and chimichurri!

Price: $21 (Ontario).

RKS 2023 Wine Rating: 90/100. Patricio Tapia 94.

(Alta-Yarí Reserva 2020 Malbec, Gualtallary, Uco Valley, Mendoza, Bodegas Fabre, Mendoza, Argentina, 750 mL, 14.5%, Liquor Control Board of Ontario # 28086).

P.S. All Malbec and no play makes Malbec a dull boy! Don’t cry for me Argentinian Malbec!