Thanks for the memories!

Terrible acting, screenplay and direction.

Instead, you get a movie that's enjoyable enough, but leaves you feeling like it could have been much, much more.

The movie turns out to be a little better than the average. Starting from a romantic formula often seen in the cinema, it ends in the most predictable (and somewhat bland) way.

Sorry but I do not believe the story of the pathetic loser doctor that really falls for a naked cutie that is fooling around with her group. The doctor is so not fitting that he would have realised himself that this could not work except as a fling. And even there, it is pushing it. However, the main girl is top notch eye candy worthy of 10+++ rating, so I don't have much to complain except for the story. The joke ending is funny though.

I enjoyed this film all the way through. Its a clear, human, real life story about the life on Greek islands, which all over the year function as typical villages, and during the summer they turn into glamorous resorts of sex, alcohol, orgies, nudism, etc. During those couple of months, the whole island is at the disposal of young, annoying and irresponsible, mainly foreign tourists. Everything is on sale, since those obnoxious tourists'money means existence and survival for the locals. In that atmosphere, we can see a personal trauma of Kostis, a lonely, disappointed and failed man, apparently overqualified physician, who has suffered unnamed emotional wrecks in his previous life, and came to the small island to work, as a result of some random circumstances. Unprepared for the sudden and wild input of the uncontrolled young and sexy tourists, he jumps without any reserve into what seems to be a compensation for his dull, failed previous life. Here we can see a tragedy of a man who apparently wasted the best years of his life into a wrong direction, or simply, made an imbalance between work and life, ambitions and reality, or simply did not have enough luck, and, as a result of all that, suffered heavy burn outs and disappointment. It is a man who has not "lived life" at the right moment, and who is, even at mature age, incapable to act as an adult. So he misplaces his lust for a young oversexualized tourist Anna, who just came to have a fun without any borders , for a life-changing love, turning himself into a complete clown and even a perv. It is so obvious to a viewer that Kostis sticks to this ridiculous attraction simply because he has a need to regain some meaning in his life, something motivating which would make him alive. The random appearance of his successful schoolmate as a tourist on the island shows us what he could have been, and what he failed in his professional and private life. It is clear that Kostis is desperately trying to compensate for that by believing in some heavenly love and relationship which could be an anesthetic for other flows in life. The girl who is young enough toe be both his mistress and his daughter, is so obviously a parody of the "life changing girl", just Kostis does not see it.The film stops right at the moment when Kostis is just about to fall to the lowest point of the human being behavior. Luckily, he stops himself at the very last moment, and comes back to the reality. It is a little bit disappointing that in the end we did not see whether he has achieved any catharsis, or any personal gain from all the trauma he suffered. Otherwise, the film is recommendable because of its clear cuts in motifs and intentions, good cast, exciting plot, good acting and very good photography.

Sexy, awkward, sad, dark. Four words that come to mind while watching Suntan.Prior to watching Suntan, I had preconceived ideas I was about to experience a story, possibly a comedy, about a middle aged male who takes a fancy to a younger female, while on holiday, and misinterpreting her body language during the course of their stay. I was correct to a certain extent.Suntan goes further. There is a middles aged man, Kostis, played brilliantly by Makis Papadimitriou. There is a girl half his age, Anna, played brilliantly by Elli Tringou. Kostis plays the part of a lonely doctor on a holiday resort. Anna is on holiday with a group of friends, staying in tents. Kostis meets Anna via the surgery, as Anna has grazed her leg. Taking a shine to Anna, Kostis heads to the beach with aims of getting to know Anna and her friends a little more. The girls are topless, sometimes naked, as the resort tolerates both nudist and those that prefer swimwear. Anna has a body to be proud of. During one scene, she performs a handstand in the sea, full bush on show above the waters surface. During after noon, Kostis and Anna kiss, and have sex on the beach. What Anna sees as a bit of fun, Kostis sees as long term love. It is form this moment, the story turns awkward, sad, dark.Kostis turns to drink, becomes a stalker, before turning into an abductor, that almost leads to rape. It's the later half of the story I wasn't prepared for. It makes for difficult viewing. Up until this point, other than the slightly awkward moment here and there, the film makes for good viewing.The whole cast are fantastic. There's some interesting camera work. Its one of those good films that takes the view there, to where the story unfolds, something that is sadly missing from many films these days.

Papadimitropoulos is an okay director, nothing spectacular, we knew that already. Papadimitriou already proved himself in the recent Chevalier so I wasn't too worried about him. Triggou, a newcomer, an a priori 50-50 of potential. The subject matter well-overused; a man confronted by his own fleeting youth and crushing loneliness falls ridiculously for the young, fresh-faced siren willing to enchant him with her blooming vibrancy and rampant uninhibition. So far, so average.And then I watched it.Well.Eff me sideways.I shall repeat that for added effect.Eff me sideways.Because what this actually is is a gloriously shot, tightly paced, hedonistic take on a climactic midlife realization that caught me off guard on every possible level of expectation I prematurely held before experiencing it.Against the contrasting backdrop of dawn's naked flesh quivering with the brazen need to explore, coming in like a tide to swallow whole the bashful self-consciousness of the late afternoon, we journey through the sad and ordinary, over to the passionate and never freer, only to eventually enter the dark tunnel of unhingedness......as we progressively come to the understanding that we're doing so while riding on a train purposefully manufactured brakeless.Since I fear this is one of those movies about which I could go on for an eternity and a day, a quick summary and I'm out.Suppressed, depressed, obsessed and, finally, possessed by his own demons, Kostis evokes our sympathy and demands our loathing while having us squirming with second-hand embarrassment on the edge of our seats.Anna's care-free nuisance quickly abides as she progressively morphs into a mirror of perilous exposure held against the viewers ourselves, now, then, definitely in dormant theory, for some in operating practice.Two worlds collide, two bodies connect, two psyches shatter into razor-sharp shards of discordant bareness.Do it. Experience it. You are both Him and Her, past or present, it doesn't matter; somewhere between the misconception and the dread, you will find yourself but, perhaps most importantly, you will be offered a chance to find out about yourself.From me, a gleeful nod of approval to anyone still reading, and yet another, emphatic,Eff. Me. Sideways.