Papadopoulos & Sons | |
---|---|
Directed by | Marcus Markou |
Written by | Marcus Markou |
Produced by | Sara Butler Andrew Markou |
Starring | Stephen Dillane Georges Corraface Ed Stoppard Georgia Groome Frank Dillane Selina Cadell Cosima Shaw |
Cinematography | James Friend |
Edited by | Sebastian Morrison |
Music by | Stephen Warbeck |
Production company | Double M Films |
Distributed by | Double M Films |
Release dates |
|
Running time | 105 minutes |
Country | United Kingdom |
Language | English |
Budget | £825,000 [2] |
Papadopoulos & Sons is a 2012 British comedy-drama film written and directed by Marcus Markou and self-distributed in the UK and Ireland by Markou's own company Double M Films through an agreement with Cineworld [3] on 5 April 2013. [4] 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. [5]
Greek immigrant Harry Papadopoulos has got it all: a mansion, awards and a lavish lifestyle as a successful entrepreneur reigning over a financial empire in the food industry. But when the banking 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 bring 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 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.
Papadopoulos & Sons was inspired by Marcus Markou's own family history and cultural roots, which fuelled 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". [6]
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 the rival kebab shop. The bridge scene was filmed in Morden Hall Park. The city scenes were filmed in Central London and the mansion scenes in Croydon. Finally, the Papadopoulos factory was set in a real Greek food factory in East London. [7]
Papadopoulos & Sons was awarded three stars out of five by 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". [8] The Daily Telegraph compared it to Raymond De Felitta's City Island and concluded that "it gets by almost wholly on hangdog charm, but that’s an underrated asset, and so is Dillane, delivering a terse and rueful performance that’s typically excellent." [9] On review aggregator Rotten Tomatoes, the film holds an approval rating of 71% based on 14 reviews, with an average rating of 5.73/10. [10]
It was shown at several film festivals across the world, including the annual Festival of British Cinema in Dinard, France, [11] the Palm Springs International Film Festival, [12] the Seattle International Film Festival [13] and the Thessaloniki International Film Festival, where it received the Michael Cacoyannis Audience Award. [14] It was also screened at the European Parliament in November 2012. [15]
In June 2013, the film was released in 70 cinemas in Germany, with almost 24,000 admissions during the first weekend. [16] It was later screened in Nicosia, Cyprus for a week in late November 2013, with all proceeds being donated to a charity helping people who have been affected by the economic crisis. [17] The film was later picked up for TV distribution in the UK, France, Germany, Greece and the Middle East. [18]
Director Marcus Markou was nominated for the "Breakthrough British filmmaker" award at the London Film Critics Circle Awards 2013 for his work on Papadopoulos & Sons. [19]
Doner kebab, also spelled as döner kebab, is a dish of Turkish origin made of meat cooked on a vertical rotisserie. Seasoned meat stacked in the shape of an inverted cone is turned slowly on the rotisserie, next to a vertical cooking element. The operator uses a knife to slice thin shavings from the outer layer of the meat as it cooks. The vertical rotisserie was invented in the 19th-century Ottoman Empire, and dishes such as the Arab shawarma, Greek gyros, Canadian donair, and Mexican al pastor are derived from this.
Papadopoulos is the most common Greek surname. It is used in Greece, Cyprus and countries of the Greek diaspora as well, such as the USA, United Kingdom, Australia and Scandinavian countries. Its female version corresponds to the masculine genitive Papadopoulou.
The Greek junta or Regime of the Colonels was a right-wing military dictatorship that ruled Greece from 1967 to 1974. On 21 April 1967, a group of colonels overthrew the caretaker government a month before scheduled elections which Georgios Papandreou's Centre Union was favoured to win.
Georges Corraface is a French actor of Greek descent, born on December 7, 1952 in Paris, France. He performed in film and television, following many years in French theatre, notably as a member of the International Center for Theatre Research under the direction of Peter Brook in the Peter Brook Company. His notable film credits include To Tama, Escape from L.A., La Pasión Turca, Vive La Mariée, Impromptu, Christopher Columbus, A Touch of Spice, and a feature film debut in The Mahabharata. His most popular television appearances include La Bicyclette Bleue, L'Été Rouge in France, The Young Indiana Jones Chronicles in the USA and Drifting Cities in Greece.
A fish and chip shop, sometimes referred to as a chip shop or chippy, is a restaurant that specialises in selling fish and chips. Usually, fish and chip shops provide takeaway service, although some have seating facilities. Fish and chip shops may also sell other foods, including variations on their core offering such as battered sausage and burgers, to regional cuisine such as Greek or Indian food.
James Frederick Grenville Lance is an English actor, best known for his appearances in a number of British comedy series and the British-American comedy series Ted Lasso for which he was nominated for a Primetime Emmy Award for Outstanding Guest Actor in a Comedy Series in 2022.
Stephen John Dillane is a British actor. He is best known for his roles as Leonard Woolf in the 2002 film The Hours, Stannis Baratheon in Game of Thrones, and Thomas Jefferson in the 2008 HBO miniseries John Adams, a part which earned him a Primetime Emmy nomination. An experienced stage actor who has been called an "actor's actor", Dillane won a Tony Award for his lead performance in Tom Stoppard's play The Real Thing (2000) and gave critically acclaimed performances in Angels in America (1993), Hamlet (1990), and a one-man Macbeth (2005). His television work has additionally garnered him BAFTA and International Emmy Awards for best actor.
Edmund Stoppard is an English actor. He is the son of playwright Tom Stoppard and doctor Miriam, Lady Hogg.
Georgia Isobel Groome is an English actress. She is best known for her roles in the films London to Brighton (2006) and Angus, Thongs and Perfect Snogging (2008).
Stavros Flatley are a British-Cypriot father-son dance duo consisting of Demetrios and his son Michalakis 'Lagi' Andreas, best known for appearing on the third series of Britain's Got Talent in 2009. They reached the final of the series, finishing fourth behind Diversity, Susan Boyle and Julian Smith.
Sounds Like Teen Spirit is a 2008 documentary and debut feature film of Bafta-Award nominated director Jamie Jay Johnson.
Marcus Markou is a British film maker, playwright and internet entrepreneur.
Leslie Finer was a British journalist and author who worked for the BBC, the Financial Times, The Observer, the New Statesman, other British news organisations, Kathimerini and the Canadian Broadcasting Corporation. He covered news in Cyprus and Greece between 1954 and 1968. He was described by Kathimerini as one of the most respected and reliable reporters of that era. Finer was considered an expert on Greek affairs.
Kingsman: The Secret Service is a 2014 spy action comedy film directed by Matthew Vaughn from a screenplay by Jane Goldman and Vaughn. The first instalment in the Kingsman film series, it is based on the comic book of the same name by Mark Millar and Dave Gibbons.
Frank Stephenson Dillane is a British actor. He is known for his roles as Nick Clark on Fear the Walking Dead (2015–2018) and 16-year-old Tom Riddle in the film Harry Potter and the Half-Blood Prince (2009). He also appeared as Henry Coffin in the film In the Heart of the Sea (2015). Dillane plays a recurring role in the 2022 gothic romance miniseries The Essex Serpent.
The 34th London Film Critics' Circle Awards, honouring the best in film for 2013, were announced by the London Film Critics' Circle on 2 February 2014.
Nikolas Papadopoulos is a Greek Cypriot lawyer and politician. He has been Member of Parliament for Nicosia since 2006 and leader of centrist DIKO party since 2013. Papadopoulos chairs the parliamentary committee on Finance and Budget. He is the son of President Tassos Papadopoulos.
Emilia Papadopoulos is a Greek-Cypriot and British BBC Television and Radio journalist.
Chubby Funny is a 2016 British comedy-drama film, directed and written by Harry Michell. Michell also stars in the film alongside Augustus Prew and Isabella Laughland. The film premiered at LOCO London Comedy Film Festival at BFI Southbank on Saturday 6 May 2017. It was produced by Free Range Films, Aimimage Productions and Guinea Pig Productions.
Harry Wootliff is an English film and television director and screenwriter.