Good concept, poorly executed.

If the ambition is to provide two hours of instantly forgettable, popcorn-munching escapism, it succeeds.

The film never slows down or bores, plunging from one harrowing sequence to the next.

The biggest problem with this movie is it’s a little better than you think it might be, which somehow makes it worse. As in, it takes itself a bit too seriously, which makes most of the movie feel kind of dull.

The pairing of incompetence, lack of any talent whatsoever, stupidity, bad writing, half-arsed directorial effort, mediocre to bad acting and a rather interesting historical topic produced this sorry excuse of a movie presented by the Greek media as some kind of event-flick or masterpiece. But Greek audiences are aware by now of the low standards of every film director (lol) Yannis Smaragdis ever cobbled together and are not and will not be fooled again by this charlatan who thinks that a few swinging drapes in front a window stand for high art. Smaragdi go home u imbecile and leave cinema to the younger generations who lately make movies with international success compared to you who tries to suck up to the press so your non-cinematic drivel looks like something worth peoples time & money. A low point in Greek cinema history. The lowest of the low.

A movie very close to Varvakis life. A movie that shows that Greeks are exactly like that , we always let our Βenefactors like Varvakis to die & always act like traitors for the interest of the wealthy countries(as long as our pocket is full with money). Something that still happens today. I believe that this is what Smaragdis is trying to tell us. But unfortunately we cannot handle the truth. If Smaragdis had more funds he could make it even better. Some of the special effects (like the destruction of the Turkish fleet) could have been better. But these cost. The change between languages might sound a little confusing but it was a necessity . A big bravo for Mr Smaragdis, i enjoyed the complex of this movie much more than El-Greco.

The storyline is bland and the pacing slow. The film was confusing even for native Greek so I imagine it would be even more so for the foreign viewers it is supposed to target.Shallow characters, unimaginative writing and generally bad dialogue. The theological overtones make no sense at all. The viewer is constantly wondering why the main characters are doing what they are doing as there is virtually no character development. Some beautiful photography, however I had the feeling that half the film takes place in one room (the mansion's living room)! Overall a below average film. Reminds me on the one hand of Greek films of a (thangfully) long-gone era where the "deep meanings" and "inner thoughts" of the director were the film's "raison d'etre" and on the other cult patriotic films usually shown on national holidays in Greece.

I will agree with tinakewy's review. The screenplay was confusing a lot. I liked the actors a lot, especially the Greeks who were very serious with their roles. They didn't look like the usual Greek actors. I also really liked the mother of Varvakis when she came down to earth to talk with him. Her expressions and her eyes were very beautiful.I would like to mention some technical issues that I noticed. Is it possible to have Out of Focus shots? There were lots of shots like this and there weren't a screenplay reason. It was a technical mistake. Even if the budget was low, controlling Focus is a basic thing. In some cases the video editing was a bit disturbing, too. You could tell the cuts. Also, the dubbing was noticeable in some cases.I would really like to watch a great story, a great film as a Greek. But it wasn't that great.Thank you.