The Wretches Are Still Singing

The Wretches Are Still Singing (Greek: Τα Κουρέλια Τραγουδάνε Ακόμα..., romanized: Ta Kourelia Tragoudane Akoma...) is a 1979 Greek dramatic experimental independent surrealist underground art film directed by Nikos Nikolaidis. It is the first part of the "Years of Cholera" trilogy continuing with Sweet Bunch (1983) and ending with The Loser Takes It All (2002).

The Wretches Are Still Singing
Theatrical release poster
Τα Κουρέλια Τραγουδάνε Ακόμα...
Directed byNikos Nikolaidis
Written byNikos Nikolaidis
Produced byNikos Nikolaidis
StarringAlkis Panagiotidis
Konstantinos Tzoumas
Rita Bensousan
Hristos Valavanidis
Dora Kalogridi
Gioula Kazoni
Maritina Passari
Antigoni Amanitou
Youla Anagnostou
Dimitris Politimos
Olia Lazaridou
CinematographyStavros Hassapis
Edited byAndreas Andreadakis
Music byJerry Lee Lewis
Bo Diddley
Julie London
Bill Haley
Little Richard
Sarah Vaughan
The Platters
Brenda Lee
Roy Orbison
Nat King Cole
Connie Francis
The Everly Brothers
Release date
September 1979 (Thessaloniki Festival of Greek Cinema)
Running time
118 Minutes
CountryGreece
LanguageGreek

Plot

The director studied the transformation of social values using the example of a group of five friends who meet after a long separation and share with each other the details of their difficult lives. The film became the symbol of the 1950s generation and reflected his personal views on the problem of alienation in the modern world. The film was shot in a surreal way with a predilection for the aesthetics of the Marquis de Sade. In it, for the first time in Nikolaidis' filmography, one can see the characteristic elements of film noir which became part and parcel of Nikolaidis' unique approach in the majority of the films that followed. The film follows four men who had been adolescents in the 1950s and are now in their forties. A fifth person, a woman, who has been in and out of psychiatric hospitals due to unspecified disorders, also appears. Efi Papazachariou, who wrote an article about it in World Film Locations: Athens, stated that it is "one of the most unconventional Greek films."[1]

Accolades

The film won the Best Director Award and the Athens Film Critics Association Best Picture Award at the Thessaloniki Festival of Greek Cinema in September 1979, where, furthermore, Hristos Valavanidis won the Best Actor Award, Marinos Athanasopoulos won the Best Sound Recordist Award, and Andreas Andreadakis won the Best Editor Award.[2]

Cast
  • Alkis Panagiotidis as Alkis
  • Konstantinos Tzoumas as Konstantinos
  • Rita Bensousan as Rita
  • Christos Valavanidis as Hristos
  • Dora Kalogridi as Dora
  • Gioula Kazoni as Thief
  • Maritina Passari
  • Antigoni Amanitou as White Clothes-Wearing Lady
  • Youla Anagnostou
  • Dimitris Politimos as Dimitris
  • Olia Lazaridou as Vera

References
  1. Papazachariou, Efi (2014). "The Wretches Are Still Singing/Ta Kourelia Tragoudane Akoma... (1979)." In Sifaki, Eirini, Nikolaidou, Afroditi, and Poupou, Anna (editors). World Film Locations: Athens (World Film Locations Series). Chicago, Illinois: Intellect Books. p. 62. ISBN 1783203595.
  2. Γενικά 1979: Βραβεία Ελληνικός κινηματογράφος. Διεθνές Φεστιβάλ Κινηματογράφου Θεσσαλονίκης (Πληροφορίες: Βραβεία) (in Greek). Retrieved 6 December 2014.

Further reading
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