By Harry Mayes, MA Neuroscience
Thanks to the lovely people at Watershed, I was able to see an advance screening of Zacharias Mavroeidis’ The Summer with Carmen. This film delivers an ‘anything-goes’, homoerotic, intelligent, and hilarious dive into the lives of two Greek, gay friends attempting to write the screenplay for the very film we see them in.
Set in Athens, on a nudist, cruising beach charged with sexual energy, the narrative guides us through the creative process of two gay friends: aspiring filmmaker Nikitas and former actor-turned-writer Demosthenes as they contemplate the subject of their film.
As the two characters write, they toy with plot points and narrative choices, creating a retrospective tone for the film. Within the story, the pair are both writing and simultaneously experiencing the events, as we, the audience, are watching it all unfold. The film pans between their beachside scribing and dramatised flashbacks of a past summer, one that took place two years earlier, and was centred around Carmen, a dog that Demosthenes looked after for his ex, Panos. Carmen is a clever little narrative device, acting as a conduit for the conflicts and emotions experienced by both protagonists.
The self-reflexive, ‘film-within-a-film’ narrative creates a comical and unique method of storytelling. It allows the audience to see how the characters dramatize the flashbacks of their lives to fit the brief their producer gave them: ‘fun, sexy, Greek, and low budget’. This is coupled with self-deprecating prose that allows for several witty quips. One moment that was particularly memorable was a super camp, comically botched performance by a drag queen of the aptly chosen Habanera from French composer, George Bizet’s opera, Carmen. After writing this scene, the pair agreed that the rights to Maria Callas’ rendition would be way out of budget. This performance, complete with over-the-top, chiselled synchronised swimmers leaves us with a key message one that rings true beyond the crazy flashbacks, ‘reality is not always realistic.’
Whilst the metafictional style of storytelling isn’t necessarily original, it is refreshing to see stories centred around gay men as something other than a tragedy based around the ‘horrors of being homosexual’. Instead, Mavroedis adopts and redefines classic romcom tropes to deliver a moving and funny film that explores a bright, complex world of homosexual relationships, with nuanced and loving connections between family, friends, exes, and the like. It hones in on the all-too-common, misfortunate relationship between gay men and their mothers, one such scene that struck a chord is when Demosthenes is speaking to his mother as she hits him with the line, ‘every mother has felt embarrassed for her child,’ without a second thought, leaving Demosthenes lost for words.
With bright colours, Mavroeidis captures a stunning and unique depiction of Greece. Speaking with the BFI, Mavroeidis emphasised the importance of scenery and space – with the choice to exclusively film in 1930s apartments being a very conscious one. These apartments used to be solely for the upper classes, and Mavroeidis wanted to send a message of equality and societal integration of the LGBT+ community in the contemporary world. There is also a clearly unique depiction of the outdoors of Athens, with most scenes being on its famous never-ending staircases or its scenic rooftops. A clear and purposeful parallel is drawn between the flashbacks featuring the stairs in Athens and the rocky beachside they sit on two years later. In almost every scene, there is symbolism to be drawn from the heights and elevations of the characters and their surrounding scenery.
Packed with niche and clever references to gay films and media dating back to the 80s, The Summer with Carmen is a must watch. With original takes on classic tropes, a funny yet serious and moving narrative and a filmic quality that makes the budget seem far higher than it was, Mavroeidis’ breakthrough film The Summer with Carmen is sure to set the director up for many more opportunities amid the Greek cinematic renaissance of the last decade.
Originally released locally in 2023, The Summer with Carmen is coming to the UK on February 28th, with screenings set at Bristol’s harbourside cinema, Watershed. You can get your tickets here, with £5 tickets for anyone 24 and under!
Check out The Summer with Carmen at Watershed with a Preview + Q&A on 25th February.
