PANORAMA OF GREEK CINEMA: The Four Seasons of the Law

On March 2, the Embassy of Greece, the Greek Film Center, and the Ministry of Foreign Affairs of Greece will proudly present the Greek Film Series: Panorama of Greek Cinema at the Avalon Theater in Washington, D.C. This month's featured film, directed by Dimos Avdeliodis, is titled The Four Seasons of the Law (I earini synaxis ton agrofylakon).

The film screening will take place on Wednesday, March 2 at 8:00pm at the Avalon Theater:

5612 Connecticut Avenue, NW, Washington, DC 20015. For more information, please call the Avalon at 202-966-6000 or visit the Avalon on the web at: http://www.theavalon.org/programs-events/panorama-of-greek-cinema/

Structured on Vivaldi’s Four Seasons, which provide the musical background to the almost autonomous stories, the The Four Seasons of the Law renders marvelously the change from spring to winter and back to spring, as it has been shot in real time, and is permeated by the calmly reflective mood of the director. The story takes us to the island of Chios in the 1960s where the filmmaker was born. At that time, the law was established by the rural police who, on the one hand represent the local bosses, on the other are a thorn in the side of the poor villagers who have to keep them sweet in order that their crops are safe-guarded. The village of Tholopotamo also has its own policeman, but when he is found dead in the fields, they have trouble getting an immediate replacement. Despite the fact that candidates for the job are hard to find, since the village is beset by strange goings-on, every season a new man in blue turns up at the local tavern. None of them is able to tame the Tholopotamo inhabitants until the fourth one arrives and shows himself to be a man who understands the world of living tales and myths.
Against this pastoral backdrop, Avdeliodis sketches his main plot, i.e. the hunt for the gorgeous girl, who resists male desire like a wild animal, is elusive like a fairy, and in the end, crowns the victory of youthful love in the pagan setting of the Greek countryside.