''Rembetiko'' ( el, Ρεμπέτικο) is a 1983 film directed by

Costas Ferris Costas Ferris ( el, Κώστας Φέρρης; born 18 April 1935) is a Greek film director, writer, actor, and producer. He wrote the lyrics of Aphrodite's Child's album ''666''. His 1983 film ''Rembetiko'' won the Silver Bear at the 34th Berli ...

and written by Costas Ferris and Sotiria Leonardou, with original music by

Stavros Xarchakos Stavros Xarchakos, Greek: Σταύρος Ξαρχάκος (born 14 March 1939) is a Greek composer and conductor. Biography Stavros Xarchakos was born in Athens, where he studied at the Athens Conservatoire. He has family origins from the Mani ...

. The film is based on the life of

rebetiko Rebetiko ( el, ρεμπέτικο, ), plural rebetika ( ), occasionally transliterated as rembetiko or rebetico, is a term used today to designate originally disparate kinds of urban Greek music which have come to be grouped together since the s ...

singer

Marika Ninou Marika Ninou ( el, Μαρίκα Νίνου) (1922 – 23 February 1957), was an Armenian-Greek rebetiko singer, born Evangelia Atamian ( el, Ευαγγελία Αταμιάν). Biography She was born in 1922 on the ship "Evangelistria" that br ...

and gained

cult status A cult following refers to a group of fans who are highly dedicated to some person, idea, object, movement, or work, often an artist, in particular a performing artist, or an artwork in some medium. The lattermost is often called a cult classic. ...

in Greece.".:BiblioNet : Rebetika / Férris, Kóstas"

Plot

This musical drama sweeps through a turbulent 40 years in popular singer Marika's (Sotiria Leonardou) life – and in the history of Greece – starting with the singer's birth in

Smyrna Smyrna ( ; grc, Σμύρνη, Smýrnē, or , ) was a Greek city located at a strategic point on the Aegean coast of Anatolia. Due to its advantageous port conditions, its ease of defence, and its good inland connections, Smyrna rose to promi ...

Turkey Turkey ( tr, Türkiye ), officially the Republic of Türkiye ( tr, Türkiye Cumhuriyeti, links=no ), is a list of transcontinental countries, transcontinental country located mainly on the Anatolia, Anatolian Peninsula in Western Asia, with ...

in 1917. Marika was deported to Greece along with all the other Greeks in Smyrna when she was seven years old, and a few years later, her parents started a career as a musician and a singer in a nightclub/bar. In the short space of one decade, Marika witnesses her father murder her mother, runs away from home, has a baby, and comes back to the nightclub to sing in an act with a childhood friend, Yorgos and a

bouzouki The bouzouki (, also ; el, μπουζούκι ; alt. pl. ''bouzoukia'', from Greek ), also spelled buzuki or buzuci, is a musical instrument popular in Greece. It is a member of the long-necked lute family, with a round body with a flat top and ...

player, Babis. Success finally comes at the expense of the suicide of another female singer at the club (named Rosa), but then Yorgos is exiled for political reasons, and she and Babis leave for other venues. Although Marika carries a torch for Babis, their relationship never seems to work out, and after many years and World War II go by, she sends her daughter away to a convent school (to later become a dancer in a cabaret, much to Marika's chagrin) and goes on a tour in America. She then returns to Greece to find herself supplanted by a younger singer named Matina who has caught the attention of Babis. Near the end of the movie, she is stabbed in the stomach the night of her reunion concert. Marika dies of her wounds and is buried by the people she sang with as they sing in her memory at the cemetery. There have been hypotheses that the story is based on the life of Marika Ninou with Babis playing the part of Vasilis Tsitsanis. However, there are glaring differences between the film and the real life of Marika Ninou. Marika Ninou only began singing after World War II. While she went to America, she never went with Vasilis Tsitsanis but in fact went with Kostas Kaplanis. She then returned to Greece and died of cancer. The film mentions a conflict with a singer named Rosa (

Roza Eskenazi Roza Eskenazi (mid-1890s – 2 December 1980, Greek: Ρόζα Εσκενάζυ) was a famous Jewish-Greek dancer and singer of ''rebetiko'', Greek folk music, Kanto and Turkish folk music born in Istanbul, whose recording and stage career extend ...

?) but no such incident has ever been documented.

Awards

''Rembetiko'' was nominated for the

Golden Bear The Golden Bear (german: Goldener Bär) is the highest prize awarded for the best film at the Berlin International Film Festival. The bear is the heraldic animal of Berlin, featured on both the coat of arms and flag of Berlin. History The winn ...

award at the 34th Berlin International Film Festival in 1984, and won the

Silver Bear The Berlin International Film Festival (german: Internationale Filmfestspiele Berlin), usually called the Berlinale (), is a major international film festival held annually in Berlin, Germany. Founded in 1951 and originally run in June, the fes ...

. Sotiria Leonardou won the prize for "Best Actress" at the 1983

Thessaloniki Film Festival The Thessaloniki Film Festival is a Thessaloniki-based cultural institution focusing on cinema. The Institution organizes the Thessaloniki International Film Festival every November and the Thessaloniki Documentary Festival every March, while its ...

for her portrayal of Ninou and the film itself tied for "Best Picture", and won three other awards as well (two "Best Supporting Actor" prizes, and one for music).

Main cast

*Themis Bazaka as Andriana *Nikos Dimitratos as Panagis *Nikos Kalogeropoulos as Babis *Sotiria Leonardou as Marika *Michalis Maniatis as Giorgakis *Spyros Mavides as Fondas *Konstantinos Tzoumas as Yiannis ("Juan") *Vicky Vanita as Roza *Giorgos Zorbas as Thomas

References

External links

*{{IMDb title , id=0086182 , title=Rembetiko 1983 films 1980s Greek-language films Films about music and musicians 1983 drama films Films directed by Costas Ferris Cultural depictions of folk musicians Cultural depictions of Greek women Films set in Greece Films shot in Greece Films set in the 1910s Films set in the 1920s Films set in the 1930s Films set in the 1940s 1980s biographical drama films Greek biographical drama films