Evropi, to oneiro

This film follows the lives of three adolescents who live in Patra, Greece. One of them is a native Greek, the other two are refugees from Syria and Afghanistan. Their stories are juxtaposed on the same basis: that they're all young with dreams about the future, but various problems prevent them from fulfilling them. And this is why the movie starts off on the wrong foot.

While the 2 young refugees have already fled their war-stricken countries, on their own, away from their families, in search of a better future, in an attempt to build their lives in foreign countries, with no-one but themselves to count on, the Greek youngster, comfortable in his family home, moans about not being able to go out for a coffee with his friends or grab something to eat as often as he wants, due to the financial difficulties his parents are facing - which he appears too busy to care about, while pursuing a career as an actor.

It is apparently unintentional that the Greek teenager's indifference to his family's problems (his parents need to remind him several times that he has to get a job) is presented in stark contrast to the images of young refugees living in abandoned factories and attempting to escape as stowaways hidden under some truck, because the directors somehow fail to stress that distinction between the anxiety to lead a proper life and someone's ambition to become an actor. To them, they are all problems, however grave or not. There is not even a hint of irony in the images we see to suggest the superficiality of the problems faced by a person who has a home and a family supporting them.

And, in the end, despite the directors' obvious good intentions, this comes across as vulgar.