Apontes (1996)

Genres - Drama  |   Sub-Genres - Reunion Films  |   Run Time - 115 min.  |   Countries - United States  |   MPAA Rating - NR
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Synopsis by Robert Firsching

Nikos Grammatikos directed this depressing study of six friends who graduate high school in 1987, following their ups and downs (mostly downs) through reunions on a Greek island until the end of their friendship in 1994, when they become independent members of society or are crushed by the system, depending on one's viewpoint. Grammatikos, who co-wrote the screenplay with Nikos Panayiotopoulos, makes his viewpoint quite clear, showing the friends dreaming of their future, then reuniting with less frequency and being beaten down by the demands of adult life until they finally lose all of their hopes and dreams, lose touch with each other, and generally end up as miserable wretches. For anyone who saw The Breakfast Club and believed the maudlin line "when you grow up, your heart dies," this film is the bitter St. Elmo's nightmare to prove the point. That doesn't make it any less ridiculous, however, and Nikos Yeorgakis' vain efforts to make his lead character sympathetic rather than simply pathetic don't help. In short, all Grammatikos and his young cast prove with this film is that the sort of whiny, self-indulgent nonsense that gave Generation X a bad name is clearly not confined to America, but alive and well in Greece.

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