Thomas (Dinos Iliopoulos) is an unassuming, shy, and completely unremarkable bank clerk. He is a man who has spent his life under the thumb of others – his boss, his landlord, etc. He always does what he is told. He will not be remembered by anyone when he dies. He’s reminiscent of Takashi Shimura’s character in Ikiru. But unlike him, Thomas does not learn to really live when he’s diagnosed with an incurable form of cancer; he finds the spark when he is mistaken for a notorious criminal called the Dragon.
Buy The Ogre of Athens Blu-rayOn New Year’s Eve, a newspaper has printed a photo of the Dragon, and he looks remarkably like Thomas. At first, he is petrified of this discovery. Even more so when the police begin to chase him. He takes refuge inside a cabaret. There he is again, mistaken for the Dragon, but instead of being feared or revolted by him, the people there revere him.
Fatman (Giannis Argyris), the owner of the club and leader of a gang of criminals, is delighted to have him in their midst. The gang is plotting to steal some ancient Greek ruins for an American antiquities hunter, and they feel that having the Dragon with them can only be a good sign. He will surely lead them to success.
Babe (Margarita Papageorgiou), a young dancer at the club, takes an interest in him as well. She thinks he is her ticket out of this place and into a better life. She also fantasizes that she can change him. That she can turn him from his criminal ways and he can become a model citizen. Thomas begins to believe the fantasies as well. He enjoys this new admiration. It emboldens him to become more confident. He feels more alive than he ever has.
The Ogre of Athens plays inside numerous genres. It is an existential drama filled with satirical elements. At times, it feels neorealistic in its approach, and then it will turn expressionistic. It is a political film living inside a noir.
Just after World War II concluded, Greece found itself involved in a bitter civil war between communist sympathizers and the established (and pro-fascist) government. Both wars left the country bitterly divided and totally smashed. I can’t begin to pretend to understand this conflict in any detail nor how it informed the making of this film (luckily for us, Christina Newland dives into this quite a bit in her interview included as one of the extras on this Blu-ray).
The wars certainly appear as a dark cloud over everything. Babe’s parents died in a bombing years before. There is a cynicism and pessimism emanating from everything every character does. These are people who have lived so close to death for so long, they feel its inevitability in every breath.
So it is with our hero. Thomas finds a brief respite from the drudgery of his life, but he knows it cannot last. He knows he cannot forever pretend to be the Dragon. There are moments throughout the film where we see him slip up. He will always be a shy, timid man, and there is only so much pretending he can do. I don’t want to slip too far into spoiler territory, but it is fascinating to watch the gang come to realize Thomas is not who they think he is. They aren’t so much angry as disappointed. They, too, seem to know that it was too good to be true. Life is hard, and any spark of hope can only be a fantasy.
The film isn’t quite as solemn as all of that. There are comedic moments as Thomas learns to live inside this new character that’s been invented for him. And there are musical numbers where the gang liven up in dance. It is a very good film, one that I suspect will only grow in my admiration as I think upon it more.
The Ogre of Athens is presented by Radiance Films with a lovely-looking new transfer. It mostly looks fantastic, with only a few moments where some wear and tear on the print could be noticed.
Extras include:
- New introduction from Jonathan Franzen (2025)
- New interview with critic Christina Newland (2025)
- New interview with Greek film expert Dimitris Papanikolaou (2025)
- Reversible sleeve featuring designs based on original posters
- Limited edition booklet featuring new writing by Andréas Giannopoulos and extract from Jonathan Franzen’s Freedom
