Post production
Synopsis
Torn between the visceral need to be accepted by his father and the consuming passion he feels for his stepmother, Tom crosses the line that will lead him to make a pact with the underworld.
Michel Kormanos (Georges Corraface)
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Tom Kormanos (Dimitris Passas)
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Vera Legrand (Katia Leclerc O'Wallis)
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Johnny Legrand (Harrys Tzortzakis)
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Aristides Stamoulis (Pavlos Evangelopoulos)
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Tom, a disillusioned man in his forties and son of the powerful Franco-Greek businessman Michel Kormanos, struggles with a stagnant life and a cold, complicated paternal relationship. His only escape: a secret and dangerous affair with Vera Legrand, his father’s young wife, from whom he demands exclusivity. Torn between her passion for Tom and her love for Michel, Vera manages to find her own harmony in this incongruous love triangle. In fact, the most important person for Vera is her brother Johnny (and Tom’s former classmate), whom she has protected since their parents’ death and whose extraordinary intelligence amazes her.
But the fragile balance of this family microcosm shatters when Johnny is accused by the mobster Aristide Stamoulis of embezzling money from an illegal online casino. Stamoulis, a former associate of Kormanos, demands revenge, becoming a threat not only to Johnny but especially to Kormanos. Tom then sees an opportunity to turn the tables to his advantage… but at what cost?
Trapped between betrayals and jealousy, blackmail and corruption, Tom, Vera, Johnny, and Kormanos will have to face their own demons at the risk of losing everything in this labyrinth where passions are as dangerous as enemies.
But the fragile balance of this family microcosm shatters when Johnny is accused by the mobster Aristide Stamoulis of embezzling money from an illegal online casino. Stamoulis, a former associate of Kormanos, demands revenge, becoming a threat not only to Johnny but especially to Kormanos. Tom then sees an opportunity to turn the tables to his advantage… but at what cost?
Trapped between betrayals and jealousy, blackmail and corruption, Tom, Vera, Johnny, and Kormanos will have to face their own demons at the risk of losing everything in this labyrinth where passions are as dangerous as enemies.
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Director’s Note
The love story between Véra and Tom, stepmother and stepson, inevitably refers to the archetypal myth of Phaedra and Hippolytus. The tragic story of these two lovers, which has seen many variations over the centuries, is here set in a genre film, a neo-noir, where infidelity, adultery, and deception do not lead to great dramas or suicides, but to a parody of traditional morality. Here, these issues are deliberately addressed not with insidious moralizing, but with humor, without didacticism or suggestion. With this film, I wish to address these “sensitive” subjects, but by observing human nature with tolerance and understanding, and above all without the slightest inclination to criticize. Perhaps with a certain nostalgia for the years of sexual liberation.
My intention is to create a work that, while offering multiple and profound psychological introspections, prioritizes action. Constant suspense and twists are the fundamental elements of the plot, so that the viewer never gets bored and remains curious to discover what happens next.
Personally, in cinema, I always like to imagine what’s behind the screen, to discern the construction itself. I never believe in absolute plausibility; I am not one of those who believe in docu-fiction in cinema. That’s why there are constant references here to genre literature and films like the Coen brothers’ “Miller’s Crossing,” with the controversial scene of John Turturro’s virtual murder in the forest. I want the viewer to clearly understand that what they see is a film—Cinema with a capital C. Pushing it to the extreme, my heroes could even address the camera, analyze their behavior, expose their state of mind, comment on what’s happening around them. In other words, be both inside and outside the story. In fact, Tom does this indirectly: by talking to the AI app on his phone, he intervenes in the film’s story and it’s as if he becomes its creator.
I could describe “Isorropies” as a disguised comedy, a video game, like those created by Johnny. All the terrible things that happen are like a board game, which the characters play with real passion, knowing, however, that everything (life itself) is a theater, a grand stage. Like paintball rather than a real battle. In this sense, the story resembles a drama whose threads are pulled by fate without the heroes being able to change the outcome, like a Greek tragedy (references to Phaedra and to Oedipus)—but without a tragic ending. It’s as if the French side comes to shake up Greek mythology and bring a playful breath to it.
I aspire to create a gangster game—a strategic game of balances—with characters from different social classes, each with a unique background, weaving a carousel of complicated and painful relationships—but also sometimes entertaining, so that this game ultimately leads to a paradoxical “happy end.”
The film is low-budget, and that’s a matter of choice, perhaps even ideology. I never aspired to make a “big” film—but a good film. I believe in Cocteau’s phrase, about a century ago, that “cinema will become an art when a film costs as much as paper and pencil.”
My intention is to create a work that, while offering multiple and profound psychological introspections, prioritizes action. Constant suspense and twists are the fundamental elements of the plot, so that the viewer never gets bored and remains curious to discover what happens next.
Personally, in cinema, I always like to imagine what’s behind the screen, to discern the construction itself. I never believe in absolute plausibility; I am not one of those who believe in docu-fiction in cinema. That’s why there are constant references here to genre literature and films like the Coen brothers’ “Miller’s Crossing,” with the controversial scene of John Turturro’s virtual murder in the forest. I want the viewer to clearly understand that what they see is a film—Cinema with a capital C. Pushing it to the extreme, my heroes could even address the camera, analyze their behavior, expose their state of mind, comment on what’s happening around them. In other words, be both inside and outside the story. In fact, Tom does this indirectly: by talking to the AI app on his phone, he intervenes in the film’s story and it’s as if he becomes its creator.
I could describe “Isorropies” as a disguised comedy, a video game, like those created by Johnny. All the terrible things that happen are like a board game, which the characters play with real passion, knowing, however, that everything (life itself) is a theater, a grand stage. Like paintball rather than a real battle. In this sense, the story resembles a drama whose threads are pulled by fate without the heroes being able to change the outcome, like a Greek tragedy (references to Phaedra and to Oedipus)—but without a tragic ending. It’s as if the French side comes to shake up Greek mythology and bring a playful breath to it.
I aspire to create a gangster game—a strategic game of balances—with characters from different social classes, each with a unique background, weaving a carousel of complicated and painful relationships—but also sometimes entertaining, so that this game ultimately leads to a paradoxical “happy end.”
The film is low-budget, and that’s a matter of choice, perhaps even ideology. I never aspired to make a “big” film—but a good film. I believe in Cocteau’s phrase, about a century ago, that “cinema will become an art when a film costs as much as paper and pencil.”
Cast |
Crew |
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Georges Corraface
Dimitris Passas Katia Leclerc O’Wallis Harrys Tzortzakis Pavlos Evangelopoulos Pantelis Dentakis Donna King Angelos Frantzis Stamatis Kraounakis Babis Tsolakis Dimitris Kormas Stathis Simeon Christos Tsekouras Walter Rooks Alexia Bogdanos Paola Dapei Vasia Lakoumenta Karolos Zonaras Anna Maria Zonara Giannis Koureas |
Michel Kormanos
Tom Kormanos Vera Legrand Johnny Legrand Aristides Stamoulis Dapergolas Margaret Director Composer Babis (Stamoulis’ henchman) Youri (Stamoulis’ henchman) Stath (Stamoulis’ henchman) Chris (Stamoulis’ henchman) Walter (Kormanos Holding) Maria (Kormanos Holding) Natasha (Kormanos Holding) Eleni (Kormanos’ secretary) Financial advisor Kleo (flower delivery girl) Rashid Kardoush |
Producer
Co-producers Director Scriptwriters Co-writer Cinematography Music Editing Assistant director Executive producer Set & Costumes Camera Sound Assistant producer Assistant camera Gaffer |
Zonaras Productions
EKKOMED (Greek Film Center) Momentum Movies Karolos Zonaras Karolos Zonaras Natasha Hassiotis Panagiotis Evangelidis Francesca Zonars Stamatis Kraounakis Aliki Souma Karolos Zonaras Aliki Souma Jenny Panoutsopoulou Giannis Kritharas Manos Kalafatelis Panagiotis Psimmenos Alexandros Demertzis Alessandro Spiliotopoulos Anisa Xhomaqi Argiro Bari Giorgos Lampropoulos Dimitris Rama |
