Riverbanks

The Greek Film Festival is happening in Melbourne this month and is featuring many films, including a drama movie called Riverbanks. This movie is starring Andreas Konstantinou who plays the character Yannis, Elena Mavridou who plays the character Chryssa, and Levent Uzumco. The director of this movie is Panos Karkanevatos.

Riverbanks is a movie that highlights a story of how two lovers meet at a river between the boarder of Greece and Turkey. This river became a passage way for illegal immigrants to cross the river to enter into the neighbouring country. This crossing also happened to be a deadly minefield. The story starts with a soldier, Yannis, who has no loved ones to hold him back and is said to be better than a machine in rooting out mines. This protagonist is a challenging, reckless and confident soldier. The second protagonist, Chryssa, is a single mother who cares for her father and brother, and helps pass children of illegal immigrants across the river. The crossing is not always successful, but she doesn’t give up.

These main characters collide when they see each other and fall in love instantly. Chryssa finds comfort in Yannis and sees a family oriented spirit and a person who challenges death. Whereas for Yannis, he’s made a family with Chryssa. The twist or plot of this movie is when Chryssa’s thug boss is her husband and the father to her child. The thug boss and husband is dangerously after the couple on the run. Also, because Yannis is a soldier and is helping Chryssa cross illegal immigrants, he puts his soldier position to risk as well.

As a conclusion, this movie has an interesting story, but is limited to a certain audience. The genre of this movie is drama, hence only people who like a little uniqueness to an action movie which specifically deals with sensitive issues will tend to like this movie comparatively a bit more. This story provides insight and in-depth thought about the issue of trafficking with consistency in it’s script. The acting was superb and the chemistry between Andreas Konstantinou and Elena Mavridou was quite fresh. The acting sizzled as the plot gained momentum.

The Delphi Bank 22nd Greek Film Festival runs from Wednesday October 14 until Sunday November 1 at Cinema Como at 299 Toorak Road, South Yarra.