“Apousies”/ “Absences” (gr.title “Απουσίες”) is a 1987 by director Giorgos Katakouzinos.
In early 20th century Athens, a retired army officer,patriarch of a respected but impoverished family,dies. His much younger wife having abandoned him many years earlier, his three daughters are left alone and in debt. In their new uncertain situation,trauma kept at bay for years compels them to repeat the mistakes of their parents.The eldest, mother of an illegitimate son confined secretly in the house, is austere and repressed.Thus she assumes her father’s mantle and exerts oppresive and isolating control over her sisters.The second,rebellious and lively, is suffocating in this sterile environment,and thus becomes intrigued by the elusive figure of her mother.Tensions between the sisters reach a breaking point when a cavalry captain comes to live next to them. The youngest sister, still a child, observes helpless the ruin of her family.
This little-known greek historical drama owes much to the long tradition of psychosexual familial tragedies like Federico Garcia Lorca’s “The House of Bernarda Alba” and Ingmar Bergman’s “Cries and Whispers”. The fates of the three women are defined by the absences in their lives (absences of their parents or companions,of love and warmth) and the often misguided and destructive ways they try to fill in these absences, all the while psychologically trapped and socially constrained by the still victorian morals of the pre-war athenian high society. It is a profound character study and a miniature portrait of the troubled mores of one of the most rarely examined periods in greek fiction. The film boasts beautiful cinematography and notable perfromances by acclaimed actors Themis Bazaka,Pemy Zouni and Nikitas Tsakiroglou.
Highly recommended watch.
