Interview
George Zois: Life is memory
Giorgos Zois talks to us about his new film and at the same time invites us to the world of "Arcadia" to talk to various eccentric figures who live there. He talks to us about the ghosts that remain imprisoned within us and finally about the shoes that we will never look at in the same way again.
Did you expect this acceptance from audiences and critics?
I'm glad that somehow the critics focused on the fact that the film has a lot of emotion. So I was happy with that acceptance. I was also pleased as some people wrote about it who understood that it was a step somewhat beyond a trend of more cold and detached films and felt that they connected with the film. Others were also personally happy that I took a step towards emotion and becoming more open by going towards what I'm afraid of. It was also a great joy and satisfaction to write it with Constantina Kotzamanis, who is a fantastic director.
How did the idea-script for the film come to life in your mind?
I've been asked this before and for me it's kind of a blurry landscape every time. I have not experienced a loss of a loved one. However, I have experienced losses of friends. The loss of a love, a love, and I have always felt since I was a little kid that whenever you experience such a powerful loss a ghost is born, and that ghost is carried and dragged along with you. It was this feeling that prompted me to write the script.
From the first moment you had Angeliki and Vangelis in your mind in the leading roles (Katerina-Jannis).
No, never. At first I was thinking of younger ages in the couple. But at some point it made more sense to me that if they are older it will have more dramatic tension and when you come out of a long breakup it's not easy to get over it. So when I went up the age scale I immediately thought of Vangelis and Angeliki.
Were there any improvisational elements in the script between the two characters?
Improvised, no. We worked on the script together and specifically with Muriki's method, which I liked a lot, where something that was happening in one scene would have to be completed with another scene afterwards. So we made the connections and where it wasn't there I created it script-wise.
In Arcadia, what does Katerina face?
Katerina wakes up in a new world and must learn the rules to be able to exist in this new world. She is like those who wake up from a coma and can't remember, have partial amnesia and try to collect who is around them but who they are. So for her I think it's an identity journey and once she realizes her identity then she has to make her decisions.
How did you think about the element of tradition being integrated with the heroes?
I think Constantina thought of it and the polyphonic came afterwards. I listened to it at some point and showed it to Konstantina and somehow I told her that I think that's the core of the film. Like it's her secret. So we said we're going to write a big sequence with all the spirits singing it together.
Were there any elements you wanted to leave to the viewer's discretion?
I like what you ask because some people may watch the film or scenes and say it's incomplete and abstract and others may say it's explanatory. Personally I don't want to explain everything because I think you kill the magic and mystery. I prefer films that imply things rather than explain things. In this film I wanted it to be accessible on the first level. From there, everyone can make their own deductions.
In the end, does death haunt us, does it cause us a kind of obsession to understand it?
The film says that somehow we haunt those who are in the other world and so you don't know who suffers the most. In the film, the people alive are somehow like ghosts, they are in their obsessions and captive. In contrast the ghosts who are captive to the living are trying to escape and are more alive and energetic.
Do you think those who see the film will see the shoes from a different perspective?
I hope so and I hope so was my goal. To walk around and if you see discarded shoes, connect them to the film and think: here's a ghost that managed to escape.