No Sympathy for the Devil
talking about
No Sympathy for the Devil
No Sympathy for the Devil
INSIDE LOOKING OUT, Yannis Kanakis, Cine Profile, Exodos, 1997
Dimitris Athanitis makes a dynamic return to the big screen with a black-and-white film, an extreme love story, filmed in the center of Athens in an indefinite time, combining a remarkable cast of young actors and a young director with a real vision that made a sense in 1994 with his also black and white, subversive and low budget Addio Berlin.
Why did you choose the black and white photo for your second feature, which you did with the first, Antio Berlin?
I chose the black and white because I literally adore the color. Of course, I've also made a color film for TV, specifically for ET-2, called Vox.
You said the film was filmed in Athens just like the first one. Why this;
First of all, throughout my life, I have never left the downtown. This may be one of the reasons. If you look deeper, however, personally, I am delighted that the whole movie exudes a strange atmosphere, an atmosphere that is precisely because it is shot in the heart of the city. All the sites that have been shot are natural, nevertheless they all look like just as they were. But, although the film is made realistically, it shows "different".
Do you actually believe in reality?
I believe that reality must have a take off.
No Sympathy For The Devil Is basically a love story?
Yes but not only. It's the most aggressive film I've ever made. It is blatant, I would say, erotic, and combines many levels: Athens, humor, dark, paranoia.
Did you say humor ... Does humor suits such a subject?
Of course it does. In the film there are comic scenes, very special of course and with their own style. It sounds comic, but it seems to me that I have made the film with the most close up shots that have been made so far in Greek cinema. I do not rely mainly on places but on faces. Besides, the sites, although known, are not recognizable in the film.
How long was the shooting?
About five weeks. I'm lucky to work with the same group from my first movie, which makes the job look like fun. We really have wonderful time, working.
No Sympathy for the Devil from Dimitri Athanitis on Vimeo.
