Deserter

Directors:  Giorgos Korras, Christos Voupouras
Cast: Stelios Mainas, Leonidas Nomikos, Toula Stathopoulou, Stelios Pavlou, Cinda Stefanopoulou, Giorgos Yiannopoulos
Greece, 1988, DCP, 121’, color
Greek with Turkish and English subtitles

In a provincial spa town, Manolis, who has been an army deserter three times, wants to reintegrate into the society of his hometown. This change is observed with bitterness by Christos, a young gay man who arrives there from Athens, fascinated by Manolis’ rebel character, and his ability to carry all the contradictions of their social environment, seemingly effortlessly. In this mosaic of characters, money acts as a connecting link, as the town ultimately prospers thanks to the local tourist businesses. It is precisely this turn to quick profit and the dead end of uncontrolled commercialization that will ultimately allow Manolis to be assimilated by his surroundings, leaving Christos to watch feeling fascinated and repelled at the same time. Not only is their homosexuality not accepted, but the bourgeois hostility is echoed and reproduced by the provincial riches.