September 22, 2024
FILM: THE SUMMER WITH CARMEN
DIRECTED BY: ZACHARIAS MAVROEIDIS
STARRING: YORGOS TSIANTOULAS, ANDREAS LABROPOULOS, NIKOLAOS MIHAS
RATING: 2 ½ out 4 stars
By Dan Pal
In The Summer with Carmen, two friends, Demosthenes and Nikitas, spend a day on a rocky seaside in Greece trying to construct a screenplay that is based on some of their own experiences. These beach scenes are intercut with those “written” scenes playing out in real time. In both worlds, there are a lot sexual, relationship, and family issues. Oh, and there’s a dog named Carmen.
The film is inspired a bit by Charlie Kaufman’s script and eventual Oscar-winning 2001 film Adaptation. I consider it to be perhaps the greatest film ever made about the struggles of a screenwriter. Kaufman, played by Nicholas Cage, is initially not interested in writing something that will break from the artful, non-fiction book he is adapting called The Orchid Thief. The eventual script Charlie writes caters to the masses who, he is told, want something thrilling from their entertainment. Directed by Spike Jonze, Kaufman’s script and Adaptation become a representation of everything Hollywood expects from its writers, leaving them to often “sell out” to make it in the industry.
The writers in The Summer with Carmen aren’t that concerned with making a work of art. They simply want to tell their specific story. Like Adaptation, they attempt to adhere to the principles of screenwriting, even at one point they follow Syd Field’s “bible” on the subject, Screenplay: The Foundations of Screenwriting (which I used as a text book in my own Introduction to Screenplay courses.) With the rules printed on the screen, we see how Demosthenes and Nikitas create an inciting incident, a plot point one, a confrontation, resolution, etc. The problem is that what they are writing isn’t that interesting.
The basic premise is that Demosthenes has broken up with his boyfriend Panos because they don’t talk or engage in sex after four years together. This is the inciting incident but what should follow, if the writers of the film within the film are truly adhering to Field’s rules, should be some rising tension and a strong climax. What they write, and what we see on screen, is really pretty dull and lacking in any kind of true building conflict. As such The Summer with Carmen feels pretty flat and far from what Hollywood might expect and what Kaufman ultimately creates in Adaptation.
Perhaps that is the point though. There’s a line in the film which states, “Reality is not always realistic.” What the guys are writing comes across as too realistic and thus not an example of the reality screenwriters are expected to create to make a successful film. This is a bit twisted, it’s true, but it’s the only way I am able to make sense of how they tone down and eschew what makes a good screenplay. What is typically written for Hollywood and other film industries is not usually based on reality. The reality is created. Demosthenes and Nikitas stick too close to what has actually happened in their lives and it is, frankly, not that compelling. Demosthenes is left caring for Carmen the dog and attempting to pull his life back together. Yet, it’s a bit odd that he’s the one who broke up with Panos and spends much of the film still pining for him. There’s a suggestion of a change in the character near the end but it isn’t the type of significant change you’d expect from a by the book screenplay.
Of course, any of the problems with The Summer with Carmen, the film we are viewing, have to be attributed to the writer/director of the film, Zacharias Mavroeidis. He seems less interested in creating a film experience that adheres to and illustrates traditional screenwriting conventions than he is at creating a visually stimulating one for viewers.
What is left within The Summer with Carmen, and what makes it at all captivating to watch, is the incredible scenery of Greece. The film is quite beautifully shot. The skies are blue and a light breeze permeates the atmosphere. Costumes are brightly colored and generally cheery, suggesting this is a lighter film than it actually is.
Then there is the sex. This film is loaded with man on man sex scenes. It never veers quite into pornography but it gets pretty close. That’s not a bad thing necessarily as some of the men, especially Yorgos Tsiantoulas as Demosthenes, are exceedingly hunky, well-built, macho looking guys. (I don’t think there’s been an actor with as much hair on his chest since Burt Reynolds in the 1970s.)
Viewers will also fall in love with the sad-faced dog that plays Carmen. There is a scene in which Demosthenes leaves his apartment and the look on Carmen is one of complete abandonment. It’s amazing at how effective this scene is given that the cameras are still in the room where Carmen is located but she continues look toward the door in which Demosthenes left through.
Still, these emotional and erotic scenes are more interesting for what they achieve than the narrative of this film does itself.
The Summer with Carmen plays at Reeling: Chicago’s LGBTQ Film Festival this week and is available to rent on Amazon Prime. It will be released on DVD on October 15th.
FILM: THE SUMMER WITH CARMEN
DIRECTED BY: ZACHARIAS MAVROEIDIS
STARRING: YORGOS TSIANTOULAS, ANDREAS LABROPOULOS, NIKOLAOS MIHAS
RATING: 2 ½ out 4 stars
By Dan Pal
In The Summer with Carmen, two friends, Demosthenes and Nikitas, spend a day on a rocky seaside in Greece trying to construct a screenplay that is based on some of their own experiences. These beach scenes are intercut with those “written” scenes playing out in real time. In both worlds, there are a lot sexual, relationship, and family issues. Oh, and there’s a dog named Carmen.
The film is inspired a bit by Charlie Kaufman’s script and eventual Oscar-winning 2001 film Adaptation. I consider it to be perhaps the greatest film ever made about the struggles of a screenwriter. Kaufman, played by Nicholas Cage, is initially not interested in writing something that will break from the artful, non-fiction book he is adapting called The Orchid Thief. The eventual script Charlie writes caters to the masses who, he is told, want something thrilling from their entertainment. Directed by Spike Jonze, Kaufman’s script and Adaptation become a representation of everything Hollywood expects from its writers, leaving them to often “sell out” to make it in the industry.
The writers in The Summer with Carmen aren’t that concerned with making a work of art. They simply want to tell their specific story. Like Adaptation, they attempt to adhere to the principles of screenwriting, even at one point they follow Syd Field’s “bible” on the subject, Screenplay: The Foundations of Screenwriting (which I used as a text book in my own Introduction to Screenplay courses.) With the rules printed on the screen, we see how Demosthenes and Nikitas create an inciting incident, a plot point one, a confrontation, resolution, etc. The problem is that what they are writing isn’t that interesting.
The basic premise is that Demosthenes has broken up with his boyfriend Panos because they don’t talk or engage in sex after four years together. This is the inciting incident but what should follow, if the writers of the film within the film are truly adhering to Field’s rules, should be some rising tension and a strong climax. What they write, and what we see on screen, is really pretty dull and lacking in any kind of true building conflict. As such The Summer with Carmen feels pretty flat and far from what Hollywood might expect and what Kaufman ultimately creates in Adaptation.
Perhaps that is the point though. There’s a line in the film which states, “Reality is not always realistic.” What the guys are writing comes across as too realistic and thus not an example of the reality screenwriters are expected to create to make a successful film. This is a bit twisted, it’s true, but it’s the only way I am able to make sense of how they tone down and eschew what makes a good screenplay. What is typically written for Hollywood and other film industries is not usually based on reality. The reality is created. Demosthenes and Nikitas stick too close to what has actually happened in their lives and it is, frankly, not that compelling. Demosthenes is left caring for Carmen the dog and attempting to pull his life back together. Yet, it’s a bit odd that he’s the one who broke up with Panos and spends much of the film still pining for him. There’s a suggestion of a change in the character near the end but it isn’t the type of significant change you’d expect from a by the book screenplay.
Of course, any of the problems with The Summer with Carmen, the film we are viewing, have to be attributed to the writer/director of the film, Zacharias Mavroeidis. He seems less interested in creating a film experience that adheres to and illustrates traditional screenwriting conventions than he is at creating a visually stimulating one for viewers.
What is left within The Summer with Carmen, and what makes it at all captivating to watch, is the incredible scenery of Greece. The film is quite beautifully shot. The skies are blue and a light breeze permeates the atmosphere. Costumes are brightly colored and generally cheery, suggesting this is a lighter film than it actually is.
Then there is the sex. This film is loaded with man on man sex scenes. It never veers quite into pornography but it gets pretty close. That’s not a bad thing necessarily as some of the men, especially Yorgos Tsiantoulas as Demosthenes, are exceedingly hunky, well-built, macho looking guys. (I don’t think there’s been an actor with as much hair on his chest since Burt Reynolds in the 1970s.)
Viewers will also fall in love with the sad-faced dog that plays Carmen. There is a scene in which Demosthenes leaves his apartment and the look on Carmen is one of complete abandonment. It’s amazing at how effective this scene is given that the cameras are still in the room where Carmen is located but she continues look toward the door in which Demosthenes left through.
Still, these emotional and erotic scenes are more interesting for what they achieve than the narrative of this film does itself.
The Summer with Carmen plays at Reeling: Chicago’s LGBTQ Film Festival this week and is available to rent on Amazon Prime. It will be released on DVD on October 15th.