Panorama screening - review - STANDING ASIDE, WATCHING (Na Kathesai Kai na Koitas) by Giorgos Servetas
Greece has delivered rather tame films in the last while, and it is safe to say that Standing Aside, Watching is not likely to change the trend. In fact, it is a rather underwhelming experience despite its cultural context of small town abandonment, which can be found in the setting of the film. This in turn is quite metaphorical of the current economic struggle experienced by the country.
As the film opens, in fact, we are shown images of factories and shops closed down, empty parking lots and scattered signs of desertion. Where has everyone gone? It doesn’t take an abnormally meticulous observer to understand that cinema has, in recent times, been all too obsessively concerned with the themes of financial struggles and migration, and very often both at the same time. But here, it is rather intriguing and curious to see the leading character return to her hometown which seems like a quasi post-apocalyptic part of the world in its near depressing state. She has moved, we soon learn, because life in Athens was too expensive and she could hardly pay the rent. But what is more is that it seems like the people that have been left behind are either stuck, isolated, distant or repressed. Only one of these, a man, seems to enjoy manipulating and using this type of environment to his advantage.
In this end, this state of relentless unhappiness is narrowed down to traditional male chauvinism vs. female vulnerabilities – a theme explored endlessly in the past that would have been more powerful had the two leading female characters themselves been likeable. This is supposed to show how times have not changed and we have not evolved.
No one is truly likeable in Standing Aside, Watching. On top of that, the pace of the film unravels with little urgency and shows little creativity. It must also be added that this might be a problem brought on by some sloppy editing, but there is a profound weakness in the script that reveals more than a simple flaw in the whole production. Greek cinema will have to wait for a more rewarding examination on its society now, as Standing Aside, Waiting seems to pose a lot of questions simply because right now it is the right time to pose them. Director Yorgos Servetas simply does not seem to make a strong enough argument in favour of passivity.
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