Derek Winnert

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This article was written on 20 Jan 2025, and is filled under Reviews.

The Summer with Carmen **** (2023, Yorgos Tsiantoulas, Andreas Lampropoulos, Nikolas Mihas, Roubini Vasilakopoulou, Vasilis Tsigristaris) – Classic Movie Review 13,361

The 2023 Greek comedy-drama film The Summer with Carmen (2023) is a sweet treat, as two gay best buddies argue, bitch and bicker on the road to life and movie realisation.

Co-writer/ director Zacharías Mavroidís’s 2023 Greek comedy-drama film The Summer with Carmen is a sweet treat.

It is an extremely good, witty and wise, and thoroughly entertaining slice of Greek gay life, seen though a movie lens, a film within a film, as two best buddies argue, bitch and bicker on the road to life realisation, and maybe the realisation of actually making a movie that they’re so busy talking about.

Yorgos Tsiantoulas stars as Demosthenes, who is enjoying a beautiful day at the queer beach in Athens, helping his aspiring film-maker friend Nikitas (Andreas Lampropoulos) with ideas for his debut feature, inspired by the adventures of Carmen.

Carmen’s a dog by the way, abandoned by the hairy hero’s ex, Panos (Nikolas Mihas), and rescued, reluctantly apparently, and supposedly briefly, by the hero (and also his rather unsympathetic mom).

The two men, stereotypes par excellence, turn really, and unexpectedly, likeable as the movie proceeds, giving extremely enjoyable, quite charismatic performances.

The clever, amusing, and often funny script is written by Zacharías Mavroidís with his best friend Xenofondas Chalatsis.

The film is shot in Athens and the nudist beach of Limanákia in Vouliagmeni.

The Summer with Carmen [To kalokairi tis Karmen] premiered at the 80th Venice International Film Festival on 7 September 2023 and was released in Greek cinemas on 13 June 2024. It is released in UK cinemas by Peccadillo on 28 February 2025,

The cast

The cast are Yorgos Tsiantoulas as Demosthenes, Andreas Lampropoulos as Nikitas, Nikolas Mihas as Panos, Roubini Vasilakopoulou as Kaiti, and Vasilis Tsigristaris as Thymios.

© Derek Winnert 2025 – Classic Movie Review 13,361

Check out more reviews on http://derekwinnert.com

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