‘Stelios‘ is a biographical film about Stelios Kazantzidis, one of the most popular Greek singers of the second half of the 20th century. He is also very well known and extremely popular in Israel, where his songs are often broadcast in the shows of Yaron Enosh and Simon Parnas, and some of them have been translated into Hebrew and adapted, so that perhaps many of those who sing them or dance to them do not know that they are originally Greek. The original title of the film is ‘Yparho‘, which in Greek means ‘I exist’, one of Kazantzidis’ most famous songs, a kind of milestone at a crossroads in the musician’s life and career. The film’s director is Yorgos Tsemberopoulos a veteran Greek filmmaker who does not seem to be bothered by time, this being only his seventh feature film in 50 years. ‘Stelios‘ is a solid biographical film, which tells in detail and with accents on the episodes that seemed important to the screenwriter Katerina Bei the complex story of the artist and man who was Kazantzidis, trying to explain the pauses and his almost total withdrawal from music, after having won the love and appreciation of huge audiences.
The singer came from a family of refugees from Asia Minor after the population exchanges that followed the conflicts between Greece and Turkey at the beginning of the 20th century. Orphaned of his father (a communist militant killed in the civil war), he is forced to start working in a factory where he has the chance for the boss to notice his musical talent, put a guitar in his hand and encourage him on the path of a career as a musician. He starts as an instrumentalist and soloist in taverns and in a short time his fame grows thanks to the talent and emotion he puts into music and the fact that he expresses from the heart the pains and passions of simple people. His contacts with managers and record labels will often put him in conflict with their commercial interests, while his personal life is dominated by several women – first his mother, followed by Katy Gray – a more mature woman and his first love -, and then the singer Marinella – his first wife and musical partner for a good part of his career. A violent incident in a night tavern will cause him to give up singing in the places where authentic music often comes from, and conflicts with the owners of the record labels and the breakup of his relationship with Marinella will lead to his retirement at the peak of his career. The journalist who takes the (authentic) interview that constitutes the framework of the script finds him living alone, as a simple fisherman, at an age when he could have been in full glory (but still with his Mercedes parked next to the fisherman’s hut). The film tries and largely succeeds in elucidating the mystery of his retirement. He would only return for recordings and special events on stage, and that only after another decade.
Yorgos Tsemberopoulos made some risky casting choices. For the role of Stelos, he chose Christos Mastoras, a singer who manages to excellently portray the character’s feelings, his artistic dilemmas, but also his personal conflicts. Mastoras sings with pathos, just as Kazantzidis did, but I recommend staying until the end credits and listening to the song that gives the Greek title of the film, in the original interpretation, for an impression of the model’s formidable voice. Klelia Renesi and Asimenia Voulioti excellently interpret the roles of the two women who loved him and whom Stelios loved. All the actors in supporting roles are excellently chosen, sometimes they are non-professional, and are even more authentic so that viewers have the feeling that they are in Stelios’ boat, in the recording studio or in the taverns where the hero sang. Such a film also lives through or especially through music. I read that in Greece, in many cinema theaters, the audiences join those on the screen by singing along to the well-known songs. I’m not surprised. I recommend watching ‘Stelios‘, even if you are not a connoisseur or lover of Greek music. I warn you that you risk becoming fans of the genre by the end of the film.