Attenberg
{{short description|2010 film}}
{{Use dmy dates|date=May 2020}}
{{Infobox film
| name = Attenberg
| image = Attenberg.jpg
| caption = Film poster
| director = Athina Rachel Tsangari
| producer = Maria Hatzakou
Yorgos Lanthimos
Iraklis Mavroidis
Athina Rachel Tsangari
Angelos Venetis
| writer = Athina Rachel Tsangari
| starring = Ariane Labed
Vangelis Mourikis
Evangelia Randou
Yorgos Lanthimos
| cinematography = Thimios Bakatakis
| editing = Matt Johnson
Sandrine Cheyrol
| distributor =
| released = {{Film date|2010|9|8|Venice|2010|12|9|Greece|df=yes}}
| runtime = 93 minutes
| country = Greece
| language = Greek
}}
Attenberg is a 2010 Greek drama film, written and directed by Athina Rachel Tsangari.{{cite web|last=Rose|first=Steve|title=Attenberg, Dogtooth and the weird wave of Greek cinema|url=https://www.theguardian.com/film/2011/aug/27/attenberg-dogtooth-greece-cinema|publisher=The Guardian|accessdate=18 December 2012|date=27 August 2011|archive-date=26 December 2021|archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20211226024321/https://www.theguardian.com/film/2011/aug/27/attenberg-dogtooth-greece-cinema|url-status=live}} The film was nominated for the Golden Lion at the 67th Venice International Film Festival{{cite web |url=http://www.labiennale.org/en/cinema/festival/lineup/off-sel/venezia67/ |title=Venezia 67 |accessdate=29 July 2010|work=labiennale.org | date=29 July 2010| archiveurl= https://web.archive.org/web/20100801005005/http://www.labiennale.org/en/cinema/festival/lineup/off-sel/venezia67/| archivedate= 1 August 2010 | url-status= live}} and Ariane Labed won the Volpi Cup for the Best Actress.{{cite web|last=Clarke|first=Cath|title=First sight: Ariane Labed|url=https://www.theguardian.com/culture/2011/aug/18/first-sight-ariane-labed|publisher=guardian.co.uk|accessdate=29 August 2011|date=18 August 2011|archive-date=19 February 2014|archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20140219062017/http://www.theguardian.com/culture/2011/aug/18/first-sight-ariane-labed|url-status=live}} It was filmed in the town of Aspra Spitia, in the Greek region of Boeotia.{{cite web|url=http://www.athensnews.gr/issue/13421/35086 |title=Attenberg |accessdate=5 February 2011 |work=athensnews.gr |date=5 February 2011 |url-status=dead |archiveurl=https://web.archive.org/web/20120306211326/http://www.athensnews.gr/issue/13421/35086 |archivedate=6 March 2012 }} The film was selected as the Greek entry for the Best Foreign Language Film at the 84th Academy Awards,{{cite web |url=http://www.altfg.com/blog/movie/attenberg-greece-best-foreign-language-film-oscar/ |title=Oscar 2012: Attenberg Is Greece's Best Foreign Language Film Submission |accessdate=22 August 2011 |work=altfg.com |archive-date=18 August 2011 |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20110818073518/http://www.altfg.com/blog/movie/attenberg-greece-best-foreign-language-film-oscar/ |url-status=live }}{{cite web |url=http://www.oscars.org/press/pressreleases/2011/20111013.html |title=63 Countries Vie for 2011 Foreign Language Film Oscar |accessdate=14 October 2011 |work=oscars.org |archive-date=18 May 2012 |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20120518164120/http://www.oscars.org/press/pressreleases/2011/20111013.html |url-status=live }} but it did not make the final shortlist.{{cite web|url=http://www.oscars.org/press/pressreleases/2012/20120118.html|title=9 Foreign Language Films Vie for Oscar|access-date=19 January 2012|archive-date=18 May 2012|archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20120518164323/http://www.oscars.org/press/pressreleases/2012/20120118.html|url-status=live}}
Plot
A sexually inexperienced 23-year-old woman named Marina lives with her terminally ill architect father Spyros in an industrial Greek town by the sea, where she works at the local steel mill. Unable to relate to the people she meets, she lives her life through the wildlife documentaries of British broadcaster David Attenborough, the music of American band Suicide, and the sex education lessons given to her by her friend Bella.
Despite her sexual inexperience, Marina's relationships with her father and Bella show warmth and thought. Spyros, contemplative as he approaches death, shares with her how he believes that "man has designed ruins with mathematical accuracy", referring to the destiny of most architecture. But then cynically, he reflects that "We (Greece) went from sheep to bulldozers".
When a stranger comes to town, an engineer who begins a work course at the steel mill, Marina has her first sexual relationship with him. She is secretive but shares her experience first with Spyros, and later with Bella. As Spyros comes closer to death, Marina asks Bella to sleep with her father as a favor for the dying man, who has not been with a woman for a long time.
After Spyros eventually meets his demise, Bella and Marina scatter his ashes over the sea.
Cast
- Ariane Labed as Marina
- Vangelis Mourikis as Spyros
- Evangelia Randou as Bella
- Yorgos Lanthimos as the Engineer
Reception
Quentin Tarantino, who was head of the Jury for the 67th Venice International Film Festival, said that the film "grew on us the most, and showed another Greece".{{cite web|last=Jennings|first=Sheri|title=Tarantino talks about Venice 2010 competitors; explains awards rule change|url=http://www.screendaily.com/festivals/venice/tarantino-talks-about-venice-2010-competitors-explains-awards-rule-change/5018079.article|publisher=screendaily.com|accessdate=29 August 2011|date=11 September 2010|archive-date=19 October 2011|archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20111019155250/http://www.screendaily.com/festivals/venice/tarantino-talks-about-venice-2010-competitors-explains-awards-rule-change/5018079.article|url-status=live}} Journalist Shane Danielsen called the film "an intellectually rigorous, quietly wrenching Greek drama".{{cite web|last=Danielsen|first=Shane|title=Venice ‘10 {{!}} Miike, Affleck, Gallo, & More Make Venice a Fest that Ended Too Soon|url=http://www.indiewire.com/article/venice_10_miike_affleck_gallo_more_make_venice_a_fest_that_ended_too_soon/|publisher=indieWire|accessdate=4 September 2011|date=10 September 2010|archive-date=23 October 2011|archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20111023115403/http://www.indiewire.com/article/venice_10_miike_affleck_gallo_more_make_venice_a_fest_that_ended_too_soon/|url-status=live}} Peter Bradshaw characterised the film as "an angular, complex, absorbing and obscurely troubling movie".{{cite web|last=Bradshaw|first=Peter|title=Attenberg – review|url=https://www.theguardian.com/film/2011/sep/01/attenberg-film-review|publisher=guardian.co.uk|accessdate=4 September 2011|date=1 September 2011|archive-date=3 March 2014|archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20140303020215/http://www.theguardian.com/film/2011/sep/01/attenberg-film-review|url-status=live}}
Promotion
A promotional picture for the film, where the tongues of two women meet, was censored on Facebook,"[https://www.dn.se/kultur-noje/kyssande-tjejer-tas-bort-fran-facebook/ Kyssande tjejer tas bort från Facebook] ", Dagens Nyheter, 6 May 2011. Retrieved 26 May 2011. but Facebook now hosts a profile for the film in which the picture is allowed.[https://www.facebook.com/photo.php?fbid=357320540983773&set=pb.112888718760291.-2207520000.1366592146.&type=3&theater Picture on Facebook], from images on the Facebook profile for Attenberg.
Awards
See also
References
{{reflist|30em}}
External links
- [https://web.archive.org/web/20161002004914/http://attenberg.info/ Official website]
- [https://www.facebook.com/attenberg Official Facebook page]
- {{IMDb title|1691323|Attenberg}}
- {{Rotten Tomatoes|attenberg}}
- {{Metacritic film}}
{{Athina Rachel Tsangari}}
{{Greek submissions for the Academy Award}}
{{DEFAULTSORT:Attenberg}}
Category:2010 independent films
Category:2010s Greek-language films
Category:Greek independent films
Category:Greek avant-garde and experimental films
Category:Films directed by Athina Rachel Tsangari