Director: Athina Rachel Tsangari
By Alex Watson
The limits of male competition are pushed to the edge during Athina Rachel Tsangari's Chevalier. A wonderful absurdist comedy, the deadpan humour and increasingly erratic competition made this rightful winner of the 2015 London Film Festival. Out on the Aegean sea, six men put themselves through physical and mental strife to prove themselves the best. There is a light political side to this whole debacle and undoubtedly this is a commentary on male antagonism. What is contains though is the most natural humour of 2016.
Six men are out on a cruise through the Aegean sea, in between their bonding and their discussions over their wealthy lifestyles they propose a wager. Whoever can prove himself to be 'The Best in General' will win the elderly doctor's Chevalier Ring. With their minds on the prize, each man both adds and subtracts points for a number of different things. To prove their worthiness all of them will put themselves through a number of alpha male test to claim glory.
Chevalier is a simple premise but there is also a slightly sociopathic edge to it. Early on we notice that the age gap between each man is very high, also we are not sure precisely how close these friendships. Plus each man occupies a different place on the male spectrum such as Dimitris (Makis Papadimitriou) an awkward, tubby guy who still lives with his mother and was invited out of pity by his bullying brother Yannis (Yorgos Pirpassopoulos). The Doctor (Yorgos Kendros) is the man whose boat they are enjoying themselves on and he runs the top of the three with a calm authority. Men like the young and handsome Christos (Sakis Rouvas) and Josef (Vangelis Mourikis) are rooted firmly in this middle, though Josef's possibly impotence is continually picked on.
Determined to prove their manliness, each challenge brings out a new side in each character. The continual one-upmanship brings along as much comedy as it does drama, such as watching Dimitris lip-sync and break dance to 'Loving You' is the high point of laughs. Things do occasionally take a bizarre turn such as Josef's drunk and naked rant about having the perfect erection. The infighting among men is like something you would see in an all female comedy and Tsangari seems to take relish in pointing this out. Christos stands in the mirror ranting at himself that his thighs are not fat which is just one incident among many insecurities brought to the surface. The point system is grading through everything such as what degrees to you caramelize your balsamic vinegar? This pettiness brings about a great comic touch.
Smartly Tsangari doesn't seek to influence our conscience in any way and she gives each character a different empathetic side. There isn't one character who stands out from the rest, although the more laid back and confident Yorgos (Panis Koronis) is possibly the only one able to relate to each member. Thankfully this rivalry doesn't give way to violence or murder and both direction and script are measured as such that they reflect the absence of vanity on screen. There is no telling whether these friends/frenemies will ever be as close or far apart as they once were. In the end, these are not the kind of questions that we ask, we just go with the ride and wait for any potential fireworks. Although be warn, it might make you your own friends start a grading system like how many beers at a Leafs game?
In the performance department, we are given six turns of equally measured quality starting with Panos Koronis' turn as the more social Yorgos. He is the one character able to swim through multiple channels and as time will tell, the boldest of all them. Makis Papadimitriou holds our sympathies as the put-down Dimitris, we've all had that one guy brought along out of pity and we try desperately to make him fit. Vangelis Mourikis has the most fun at the middle-aged and keen to impressive Josef. Whether showing off on his jet-ski or recounting his days of sexual glory, Mourikis hits the comedic nail on the head. As the affluent and slightly hypocritical Doctor, Yorgos Kendros has a lot of fun his attempts to hide his smoking continue to amuse.
Chevalier is a picture that does deserve your time as it will serve as a key example to the roots of male competition. Just be wary of what may happen to your friendship as a result.
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