''The Downfall'' ( el, O Katiforos, el, Ο Κατήφορος) is a

1961 Events January * January 3 ** United States President Dwight D. Eisenhower announces that the United States has severed diplomatic and consular relations with Cuba (Cuba–United States relations are restored in 2015). ** Aero Flight 311 (K ...

Greek Greek may refer to: Greece Anything of, from, or related to Greece, a country in Southern Europe: *Greeks, an ethnic group. *Greek language, a branch of the Indo-European language family. **Proto-Greek language, the assumed last common ancestor ...

drama film made by

Finos Film Finos Film (Greek: Φίνος Φιλμ) is a film production company that dominated the Greek film industry from 1943 to 1977. It was founded by Filopimin Finos in 1942 during World War II. It was the biggest film production company in Greece at ...

s. It was directed by

Giannis Dalianidis Giannis Dalianidis ( el, Γιάννης Δαλιανίδης; 31 December 1923 – 16 October 2010) was a Greek film director. His first film was ''Mousitsa'', released in 1959, which was followed by a series of musicals. Between 1974 and 1981, ...

and starring Zoi Laskari, Nikos Kourkoulos, Vangelis Voulgaridis and

Pantelis Zervos Pantelis Zervos ( el, Παντελής Ζερβός, Born 1908 in Loutraki – January 22, 1982 in Athens) was a Greek theatrical and a film actor. Biography Zervos was born in Loutraki near Corinth in Perachora. He attended the Art Theatre S ...

. The movie made 161,331 tickets first class cinemas in

Athens Athens ( ; el, Αθήνα, Athína ; grc, Ἀθῆναι, Athênai (pl.) ) is both the capital and largest city of Greece. With a population close to four million, it is also the seventh largest city in the European Union. Athens dominates ...

and

Piraeus Piraeus ( ; el, Πειραιάς ; grc, Πειραιεύς ) is a port city within the Athens urban area ("Greater Athens"), in the Attica region of Greece. It is located southwest of Athens' city centre, along the east coast of the Saron ...

Plot

A group of Greek youngster in the early 1960s, lead their lives ignoring their parents. Three of them are: Rea (Zoe Laskari), whose parents do not pay much attention to the carefree way of life she leads, Costas (Nikos Kourkoulos), Rea's boyfriend, who comes from a broken home and is secretly engaging in love affairs with other girls and Petros (Vangelis Voulgaridis), who is a kind and gentle person and is also in love with Rea. Their main concern is the same as most of the 1960s youngsters, i.e. going to parties where we can see the decadent way in which they have fun (passionate dancing, kissing, striptease etc.). A few days later, Rea learns about Costas' promiscuous life, dumps him and decides to have an affair with Petros. Costas, in order to get his revenge, arranges a meeting in a park where he abandons her naked. After humiliating her like that, he has an affair with her sister, Lena (Mirka Kalantzopoulou). Rea gets furious and wanting to protect her sister from that evil person, kills him. She is led to court, where her attorney is her own father, and after a very long trial, Lena reveals the true reason the crime took place, an action that helps Rea get a lighter sentence.

Cast

* Zoe Laskari .... ''Rea Nikolaou'' * Nikos Kourkoulos .... ''Kostas Petrakis'' * Vangelis Voulgaridis .... ''Petros Kyriazopoulos'' *

.... ''Leonidas Nikolaou'' * Kostas Voutsas .... ''Bisbiras'' * Mirka Kalatzopoulou .... ''Lena Nikolaou'' * Nitsa Marouda .... ''Maria Siaka'' * Eleni Zafeirou .... ''Elizabeth Nikolaou'' *

Periklis Christoforidis Periklis Christoforides (1907 – 30 September 1983) was an Ottoman-born Greek film actor. He appeared in more than 120 films between 1929 and 1979. He was born in Trebizond, Ottoman Empire, and died in Thessaloniki, Greece, following a ...

.... ''Filippas Kyriazopoulos'' * Angelos Mavropoulos .... ''judge'' * Lavrentis Dianellos .... ''Sotiris Siakas''

Trivia

* The film marked Zoe Laskari's debut in cinema. * The role of protagonist was offered to

Aliki Vougiouklaki Aliki Stamatina Vougiouklaki (Greek: Αλίκη Σταματίνα Βουγιουκλάκη Greek pronunciation: ˈlici stamaˈtina vuʝuˈklaci 20 July 1934 – 23 July 1996) was a Greek cinema and theater actress, singer and theatrical producer ...

but she turned it down due to the nude scenes. * Zoe Laskari poses as a threat to Aliki Vougiouklaki's vast popularity. * The film boosted Nikos Kourkoulos's Kostas Voutsas's and Vangelis Voulgaridis's popularity. * The movie reached number one at the Greek box office that year. * After the movie Zoe Laskari signed an exclusive contract with Finos Films her being paid every month. * The movie was screened worldwide and was number one in the

box-office A box office or ticket office is a place where tickets are sold to the public for admission to an event. Patrons may perform the transaction at a countertop, through a hole in a wall or window, or at a wicket. By extension, the term is fr ...

Mexico Mexico (Spanish: México), officially the United Mexican States, is a country in the southern portion of North America. It is bordered to the north by the United States; to the south and west by the Pacific Ocean; to the southeast by Guatema ...

during the season 1962-63 and was played for 57 consecutive weeks in the cinemas of

Mexico City Mexico City ( es, link=no, Ciudad de México, ; abbr.: CDMX; Nahuatl: ''Altepetl Mexico'') is the capital city, capital and primate city, largest city of Mexico, and the List of North American cities by population, most populous city in North Amer ...

. * The movie was due to be shown at the 1961

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 ...

, but Filopimin Finos withdrew it (along with two others) because he didn't agree with the festival schedule. * The success of the movie led to more films dealing with the issues of the so-called "raging youth" and "teddy boys" (punks) to be produced in the Greek cinema.

References

External links

''O Katiforos''
* {{DEFAULTSORT:Downhill, The 1961 films 1961 drama films 1960s Greek-language films Finos Film films Greek drama films Films directed by Giannis Dalianidis

Plot

Cast

Trivia

See also

References

External links