Rezensionen / Presse zu «The Man In Grey»
Howard Feinstein, "Variety"
In «The Man in Grey», Greek actor Yorgos Michalakopoulos delivers a fine, understated performance as an aged, taken-for-granted husband and father who, almost overnight, comes to feel useless. While Pericles Hoursoglou's direction is deft, pic's major problem is one of cowardice: Lacking the courage of its convictions, story takes a reactionary detour near its conclusion, putting a damper on the whole project. Still, the elegant, if TV-style, craftsmanship and several fine perfs, not to mention the rare treatment of a love affair between the aged, are pluses that could lead to specialized offshore exposure.
Tale begins at the retirement party for the colorless Leonidas (Michalakopoulos), known at work for his gray outfits. At home, he only gets in the way of his wife, Maro (Rania Economidou), and champion swimmer son, Apostolos (Themis Himaras). But on his annual visit alone to a Swiss spa he re-encounters an old pal, Alekos (Alekos Oudinotis), who's moved to Switzerland with his wife, Christina (Irene Iglessi).
When Alekos is summoned back to his home in Bern on urgent business, Leonidas and Christina find they have business of their own to attend to. Head-over-heels in love, Leonidas returns to Athens a changed man, and makes no effort to hide the affair from his family. Apostolos refuses to speak to him, and Maro is devastated, but his daughter, Anastasia (Maria Kechagioglou), separated from her husband, is sympathetic. On an impulse, Leonidas flies to Bern, leaves a meaningful green sprig at Christina's door, and waits to see whether she'll pick up the signal to continue the affair.
Lensing is especially fine, and rest of cast is good, especially Iglessi as Christina. Though not entirely inappropriate, pic's music is somewhat sentimental.