Dark Odyssey (1961)
A Film by William Kyriakis and Radley Metzger
DVD5 | VIDEO_TS | NTSC 4:3 | 01:37:19 | 4,32 Gb
Audio: English AC3 1.0 @ 192 Kbps | Subtitles: None
Genre: Crime, Drama, Thriller
A Film by William Kyriakis and Radley Metzger
DVD5 | VIDEO_TS | NTSC 4:3 | 01:37:19 | 4,32 Gb
Audio: English AC3 1.0 @ 192 Kbps | Subtitles: None
Genre: Crime, Drama, Thriller
Yianni Martakis, a sailor immigrant in New York City, is on a mission to find and kill the man who raped his sister. Along the way he becomes entangled with the sweet, unassuming Niki Vassos, and must decide whether he should forget his path of vengeance and perhaps begin living a normal life.
IMDB
This is certainly a worth watching film for those interested in the representation of white ethnicity in the 1950s. As far as I can tell it must be one of the first films to depict immigration of white ethnics to the US long before Kazan produced America, America (1963). And what an unusual immigration that is! The film contains many themes that are typical of ethnic literature such as the meeting of the young lovers to be on top of the apartment building, the discussion of bridges and waters as connecting not separating people. An ethnographic look at an ethnic household prevails, but attitudes depicted do not comply with fossilized respect for the way things are done in the old country.
Metzger and Kyriakis provide a very compelling view of New York, its monuments and architecture. In a neorealist fashion they employ unknown amateur actors and actresses. And according to their words they used authentic locations. As they said they were really moved by people's willingness to allow them to film in their establishments. The main protagonist Alex Carras was an accomplished dancer and he provides the audience with an extraordinary variation of a Greek folk dance. This dance focalizes the dilemmas the protagonist/immigrant faces and helps him resolve the issues he has on his mind. The ending does not conform to Hollywood formulas and that also makes the film exceptional.IMDB Reviewer
Dark Odyssey opened at the Cameo Theater on 44th Street, with the English language version alternating with the Greek language version. The New York Times hailed the film as, “Thoughtful, unpretentious, and creatively turned.…Messers Kyriakis and Metzger rate a warm welcome to the movie fold.” Despite similar praise from other American dailies, there were no funds for advertising and the film did poorly at the box office. Later, it was shown at the Steinway Theater in Astoria for a week, but again without adequate advertising, the film failed to draw an audience. From that time on, Dark Odyssey remained unseen and forgotten.
That circumstance only changed in 1999 when First Run Features made the film available as a low-cost video as part of a box set featuring the films of Radley Metzger. On its release in the new format, The Daily News compared the film to the work of John Cassavetes and judged it, “…a thoroughly warm and enduring drama that doubles as an evocative time capsule portrait of 1950s Manhattan.” Since then, Dark Odyssey has taken on a second life as a feature in Greek film festivals in America and as a component of various university courses, most often in ethnic studies programs.
The subsequent careers of the filmmakers are of note as they indicate the various pathways opened to artists involved in independent filmmaking even in the 1950s. Rather than being discouraged by Dark Odyssey’s rapid demise, William Kyriakis went on to a long and fruitful career as a documentary filmmaker. He also worked on various Greek films released in America, most notably Michael Cacoyannis’s Stella. Codirector Radley Metzger built an international reputation as a cult director with a series of erotic films that were financial plums. As recently as September 2010, Metzger was honored for his film work by the Oldenburg International Film Festival in Germany. Laurence Rosenthal, who wrote the compelling musical score for Dark Odyssey, went on to Hollywood where he composed for major motion pictures such as The Miracle Worker, Requiem for a Heavyweight, and Becket.
Athan Karras left the Broadway stage where he had been working and moved to Hollywood where he became a much sought choreographer and dance instructor. Over the years, he became recognized as America’s leading authority on traditional Greek dancing. Hollywood producers often consulted Karras about films and television shows featuring Greek music. His prestigious dance studios attracted Hollywood luminaries such as Marlon Brando, Ginger Rogers, Telly Savalas, Bo Derek, and Omar Sharif. Ariadne and Nicholas Zapnoukayas continued to perform in Greek theatrical productions until the demise of those acting venues in the late 1960s.
Made at the dawn of American independent feature filmmaking that employed on-site locations, Dark Odyssey remains a notable example of what genuinely independent film production can accomplish. Despite the obstacles created by an extremely limited budget and resources, the film succeeded in creating a vibrant, visual portrait of New York at a time of great change without recourse to the dramatics of poverty-stricken lives or organized crime. Thematically, the film offers telling insights into ethnic life in post-World War II urban America. The specifics are Greek but the patterns fit experiences common to all immigrants and their immediate offspring.Excerpt from Dark Odyssey: An Indie Classic Rediscovered
Special Features: None
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