A Place Called Home (2013)
Cast: Mirto Alikaki, Mirjana Karanovic, John Bicknell
Directors: Maria Douza
Country: Greece
Genre: Drama
Editor’s Notes: The following review is part of our coverage of the European Union Film Festival. For more information on the festival visit www.eutorontofilmfest.ca and follow the European Union Film Festival on Twitter at @EUFFToronto.
Family and homecoming have always been strong, well used themes for Greek filmmakers and Maria Douza has drawn on these for her debut feature film. A Place Called Home, or ‘The Tree And The Swing’ to give it its original title, is a character piece that offers a more contemporary slant while remaining true to its traditional roots.
A Place Called Home displays its messages boldly and clearly. This is a film about population displacement, of where home really is and what truly defines it.
Eleni (Mirto Alikaki) is a strong willed Greek woman living in London. The same day her own highly valued career takes off she discovers her husband is being forced to relocate to China or risk losing his job, and obviously wants her to join him. At the same time she is avoiding phone calls from her estranged father Kyriakos (Ilias Logothetis) who wants to discuss things Eleni absolutely does not. Now that the stable home life she treasures is threatened she resolves to head to Greece with her young daughter to reconcile with her father and contemplate the future.
A Place Called Home displays its messages boldly and clearly. This is a film about population displacement, of where home really is and what truly defines it. Is it simply your homeland, the place you were born and raised? Is it where your heart is, where your family lies and where you settle? Douza, who also wrote the piece, asks these questions and more, and whether you feel she answers them satisfactorily may well depend on your own viewpoint. The resolution will perhaps be a little too neat and predictable for some, offering happier solutions than perhaps appeared likely going in to the third act. Further study of the problems and consequences of displacement and racial tensions are touched upon and teased but are quickly dispensed with, offering little in the way of further comment. This would perhaps become more frustrating if the likeability of what’s on screen wasn’t so successful.
All that said A Place Called Home is a thoroughly enjoyable film while you’re watching it. As soon as the film is over however it could well become completely forgettable, offering little of anything new.
The performances are very much key to A Place Called Home as this is where the emotional foundations are. Despite Eleni being the focal point around which her convoluted family structure rotates this is very much an ensemble piece and as such any weakness would have been problematic. Fortunately Douza has assembled a cast that convincingly and comfortably inhabit their roles, and their interactions are completely natural and resonate with recognisability. There is a slight nagging that some are underserved a little, with the younger characters given little real scope to develop, but on the whole the film moves along at a pleasant, steady pace with little chance for too much thought. There is also the occasional misstep concerning certain characters motivations, their actions not quite sitting happily with what you’ve already been told about them.
All that said A Place Called Home is a thoroughly enjoyable film while you’re watching it. As soon as the film is over however it could well become completely forgettable, offering little of anything new. The film says nothing original about family or home, simply reaffirming what you already know but it is a pleasant way to spend a couple of hours, if ultimately little more than that.
A Place Called Home says nothing original about family or home, simply reaffirming what you already know but it is a pleasant way to spend a couple of hours, if ultimately little more than that.
