‘There Are No Words to Describe Our National Pride’: Weird Walks, Awkward Crisiscapes and the Most International Moment of Greek Cinema

Abstract

The chapter returns to the official beginning of the Greek socioeconomic crisis in 2010: the announcement of Greece’s application to the International Monetary Fund (IMF). It reflects on the emergence of a new movement in Greek cinema at around the same time, spearheaded by the group Filmmakers in the Fog and the successful theatre and festival run of films Dogtooth (2009; dir. Lanthimos) and Strella (2009; dir. Koutras). A close reading of scenes from the films Matchbox (2003; dir. Yannis Economides) and Suntan (2016; dir. Argyris Papadimitropoulos) bookends the analysis in this section. What made international and Greek audiences consider the Weird Wave films as a group, it is argued, is their tendency to screen “excessive allegories, biopolitical anxieties, trapped bodies”.