Billed as a 2004 special edition of a 1983 production, Costas Ferris’ Rembetiko is a curious hybrid of musical, lurid drama and superficial history of a slice of 20th Century Greece. Spanning nearly 40 years, the film traces the origins of a form of Eastern-influenced folk music known as rembetiko through its protagonist Marika Ninou, one of Greek’s most popular singers.
Her tragic life offers plenty of dramatic potential which is only intermittently realized due to confused, disjointed storytelling and sketchy characterizations.
Born in Smyrna, Turkey, in 1917, Ninou was deported to Greece along with all the other Greeks in that area when she was eight. Her parents were rembetiko players in sleazy hash clubs: her father physically and mentally abused her and her mother was unfaithful.
Aged 16, Marika (Sotiria Leonardou) was captivated by an itinerant magician, who (according to the screenplay) seduced her wordlessly. After she had a baby he ditched her and she found fame singing with a rembetiko group. But happiness eluded her: There was an abandoned child, personal and professional jealousies, the suicide of one of her rivals, a frustrating trip to Chicago, and much heartbreak.
The narrative is clumsily interwoven with a potted history lesson via grainy newsreel footage of scenes from the national disaster in Asia Minor, World War II and the Nazi occupation of Greece, and the Civil War.
And there’s a heap of songs, which will grate for those who don’t enjoy that kind of music. Just as storylines are developing, the director segues to yet another melancholy song, often with banal lyrics such as 'If you ever get caught in a net, be sure no one will free you, find the exit on your own."
The charismatic Leonardou, who co-wrote the screenplay with Ferris, gives a strong performance but is let down by an ill-defined character and a muddled, often discordant film. DVD features an interview with the director and outtakes.
