Papadopoulos & Sons

Papadopoulos & Sons is a British comedy-drama feature film written and directed by independent filmmaker Marcus Markou and self-distributed in the UK by Markou's own company Double M Films through Cineworld^[1] on April 5, 2013.^[2] Cineworld initially agreed to distribute the film for one week only in a limited number of screens across the UK, but due to unprecedented audience demand, extended the run while expanding to more venues.^[3]

Plot

Following his ruin in the latest banking crisis, a self-made millionaire reluctantly re-unites with his estranged freewheeling brother to re-open the abandoned fish and chip shop they shared in their youth.

Greek immigrant Harry Papadopoulos has got it all: a mansion house, awards and a super rich lifestyle as a successful entrepreneur reigning over a financial empire in the food industry.

But when a financial crisis hits, Harry and his family - shy horticulturist James, snobby fashion victim Katie, and precocious child prodigy Theo - lose everything. Everything, except the dormant and forgotten Three Brothers Fish & Chip Shop half-owned by Harry´s larger-than-life brother Spiros who's been estranged from the family for years.

With no alternative, Harry and his family are forced to pack their bags and reluctantly join `Uncle Spiros´ to live above the neglected Three Brothers chippie. Together they set about bringing the chip shop back to life under the suspicious gaze of their old rival, Hassan, from the neighbouring Turkish kebab shop whose son has his own eyes on Katie.

As each family member comes to terms with their new life, Harry struggles to regain his lost business empire. But as the chip shop returns to life, old memories are stirred and Harry discovers that only when you lose everything can you be free to find it all.

Production

Papadopoulos & Sons is a family-oriented film.^[4] It has been inspired by Marcus Markou's own family history and cultural roots, which fueled his desire to focus on family unity: "I came from a very tight knit Greek-Cypriot family", said the director. "However, as we grew older and grew up, my family, like so many other families, broke apart. I also lost so many of my Hellenic roots. In making the film I reached out to that sense of family that had been lost and I reached out to my Hellenic roots. [The film] is not about being Greek or Cypriot at all. I use that as backdrop. It really is about family unity at a difficult time".^[5]

The film was shot in the London area. The crew found a street with two empty shops in Morden, South London, and took the lease on them. One became the chip shop The Three Brothers, the other one the rival kebab shop. The city scenes were filmed in Central London, the mansion scenes in Croydon. Finally, the Papadopoulos factory was set in a real Greek food factory in East London.^[6]

Critical reception

Despite being mostly self-distributed and self-promoted, Papadopoulos & Sons received a large amount of reviews following its release in the UK. It was awarded three stars out of five by various media outlets among which The Guardian, which described the film as "an ambitious attempt to rewrite Lear for laughter rather than tears. It's a throwback, but relaxed, sweet and funny with it: a first feature that makes an impression by not pushing too hard to make an impression";^[7] The Telegraph;^[8] Contact Music,^[9] to name but a few. The criticisms mainly concern the screenplay deemed by some as predictable^[10] or déjà-vu,^[11] most critics insisting nonetheless on the "feel-good" aspect of the film, such as Total Film which admitted there was "a warmth and charm about Marcus Markou’s feature debut that makes it hard to resist"^[12] or Female First which mentioned the film's "charm and heart".^[13]

The film received 82% positive reviews on Rotten Tomatoes and an average rating of 6.9 out of 10 on IMDb.

It got support from several film festivals across the world, including the Dinard British Film Festival (France),^[14] the Palm Springs International Film Festival (USA),^[15] the Seattle Film Festival^[16] and the Thessaloniki Film Festival (Greece) where it received the Michael Cacoyannis Audience Award.^[17] It was also screened at the European Parliament in November 2012.^[18]

Boy George has been a vocal supporter of the film.^[19]

On June 27, 2013, the film was released in 70 cinemas in Germany under the name Papadopoulos & Söhne and achieved the impressive tally of 23 850 admissions during the first weekend.^[20]

It was later screened in Nicosia, Cyprus for a week in late November 2013: all proceeds were donated to a charity helping people who have been severely affected by the economic crisis.^[21]

On December 17, 2013, it was announced that director Marcus Markou had been nominated for a "Breakthrough British filmmaker Award" at the London Critics' Circle Film Awards for his work on Papadopoulos & Sons.^[22]

Cast

References

External links

• Official website
• Papadopoulos and Sons at the Internet Movie Database
• Papadopoulos & Sons at Rotten Tomatoes