Loafing and Camouflage (1984)
The film is the story of a group of soldiers, who, in the course of their compulsory military service in 1967 and 1968, before and during the military dictatorship in Greece, are assigned to the then recently founded Armed Forces Television. This TV station, founded for the civilian population, was run by the Cinematographic Unit of the army which until then had only produced propaganda films and newsreels and was responsible for entertaining the troops and other charity organizations with movie screenings. The personnel was composed mostly of soldiers, who already had experience in the film business in their civilian lives, as well as those who received their training in the army. The story may be only 95% true, but that is simply because the true story is even more absurd...
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The Worst Film Ever
Sorry, this movie sucks
A Disappointing Continuation
To all those who have watched it: I hope you enjoyed it as much as I do.
This is one of the best Greek movies that have been released. Written and directed by Nikos Perakis. The story is about some friends in the Greek Army that often do things that will make them go to the military prison. It is basically a good filmed movie and if you are a Greek you will like it even more...The film is not long (1hour 34 minutes) but that means that in a very small film, you will laugh more than you ever did before. Some scenes contain bad language and some scenes that are inappropriate for young children . I can't tell about the age because every country has it's rules so in America it may be PG-13 and in UK R-Rated.I hope you got the point It was filmed in 1984 and it is one o the bat comedies I have ever seen. Watch it and you won't stop laughing.
I have probably seen this movie more times than the director. In the 80's I was so obsessed with this film, that at one point I thought I was a character in the film. Me and my friends would constantly re-enact scenes amongst us. I actually got to see it in a proper theater -- which is now a supermarket-- in a small town in Southern Greece. Agreeing with the previous reviewer this film was a gem amongst trash that other people were producing in the 80's. I guess I wonder why us Greeks could never deliver better cinema? After all, we invented drama.Thank god for this ray of light that this film gave me in the 80's.
Perhaps the best Greek film the last 25 years and a film along with 2-3 more that kept the Greek cinema alive during the 80s. A story of the soldiers who worked on the first attempt to make television in Greece (at the YENNED studios) in the mid-to-late 60s and a funny view of the 7 year dictatorship (1967-1974). People who don't have much to do in life and try to make money from everything (they even try to film a porn film to earn some). Perakis writes and directs this film and makes it hilarious sometimes and caustic, but really serious when it has to deal with matters of people with left political beliefs. The film is original because it does not follow the path other Greek directors used to follow in order to make a film for such periods (and they were many who have done so since 1975). It shows that not anybody was fighting against the regime, not because they didn't like what was happening, but because they did not feel that their life was changed that much and most of all it's not the gloomy depiction of the 7 years. The "ghost" of the dictatorship is always there, don't forget that it's a film about a military dictatorship, seen from a view of people who are IN the army. If you are Greek, then it is, a must-seen-film ! Highly recommended for anybody else !
The movie's story starts a few days before the 21st of April of 1967, when a group of colonels initiated a military coup (junta) in Greece. The main character, a soldier (cinematographer in his profession), who served at the border line, is transfered to the army's movie center in Athens, where the first steps of greek television took place.While being close to his wife, kid and his friends (cinematographers as well, serving in the army's movie center), this guy (and his fellow men at arms) never stopped being under question from their senior officers for their "controversy" political beliefs (communism was a target back then).Even going through a hard time, even after the beginning of the coup, this team of soldiers go through numerous of funny situations, which I dont know if non-greek persons will appreciate in a the same degree as I (or any other Greek) have.Totally recommended movie... 9/10.