1906 is considered the birth year of Greek cinema. It is best symbolized as when Macedonia was being filmed by the Manakia brothers, John and Mitiades. One year later the first theatre of Athens opened.
Comedy was one of the first genres to attempt the big screen. Comedic short movies produced by Spiros Dimitrakopoulos, for example, were popular from 1910-1911. Eventually, in 1914 the Asty Film Company was founded and the production of long films began. Meanwhile, back in Hollywood, four major film companies – Paramount, Warner Bros., RKO and Columbia had actual studios up and running; as did several minor companies and rental studios.
Golfo, a well known traditional love story, was the first Greek movie of feature length. Several years later in the 1930’s, Olympic Film made its first speaking movie in which the music had to be played by gramophone behind the screen. The movie was called The Loving Shepherdess and it was one of the most famous early movies in Greek cinema. Stella and Zorba the Greek both directed by Michael Cacoyannis by are also famous movies from Greek cinema that came out in the 1950’s and 1960’s.
Flash forward to 1999 where two TV series writers made the sexy comedy Safe Sex. Acted out by famous actors, this movie proved to be the most successful movie of the later year. It was considered the movie that signaled a return of the Golden Age of Greek cinema. The movie was then translated into many languages.
Today, many movies relating to Greek culture are Americanized versions of Greece. For example: The Sisterhood of the Traveling Pants and My Big Fat Greek Wedding. Much of Greek cinema is often only shown in Greece.
What is your favorite Greek movie? Americanized or otherwise!!
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