BANG- BANG WEDDING!/ TO GAMILIO PARTY
Greece, 2008, 89 minutes, Colour.
Alex Dimitriades, Fay Ksila.
Directed by Christine Crocos.
This is a comedy about a wedding reception rather than a wedding – or all the things that can go wrong for the guests on the way to the reception. There is nothing religious about the film – the couple are seen at the church door going in, then cut to them coming out, and on to the reception.
It is a Greek production with Australian actor, Alex Dimitriades as the leading man.
The film give some background for the couple, he a fashion photographer who wants to move out of that industry into something more creative, she a diver and a protector of endangered species.
The film shows her father, a widower who has married again after the death of his wife, the new wife having taking over all the organisation. His mother lives in London and has a few problems, including a drinking problem. His father has married a younger American and lives in New York, organising a job with a magazine for his son – and the announcement of the new job causes a quarrel between the newlyweds and the wife going off, wanting her independence but also wanting all decisions to be made by them both.
Mistakes have been made with the maps for everybody to get to the reception. A driver is held up by goats crossing the road and the father of the bride’s car crashes into it giving a concussion to his wife who then suffers from amnesia, is taken to a vet, knows nothing of where she is, but, fortunately, is hit by a projectile and recovers her memory. The groom’s father gets into trouble, reappearing in his son’s life and offering him the new job. He is is upset but is helped by his new wife who uses some New Age meditation and breathing techniques to calm her husband down.
The maid of honour is late and gets a lift to the reception with three young men, one of whom has a gun and, when buying a few things in a shop, pulls it out instead of money, is pursued by the proprietor with a shot gun, the police then in pursuit. The car has a flat tire so they have to walk, coming to a party thinking it is the reception – but it is a rather hedonistic show, with some casual sex, spiced drinks and guest strippers dressed as policeman.
The people organising the reception are on hold and getting weary of waiting.
It depends on your sense of humour whether you find the characters and situations funny, the way that people handle them. Needless to say, everything works out happily the end.
