This is a slow burner. A very weird slow burner. I'm not sure, maybe it's a Greek thing, but it's a little hard to get into. It's pretty good though. Unnerving and darkly comic. Six men on a luxury yacht devise a game one evening, a game to decide who is 'the best in general'*. It's an odd idea that sees them testing each other in increasingly bizarre and personal ways. For a game it feels very serious, the men becoming more and more calculated, even cruel and manipulative. I don't know any of the actors but they all do a great job in portraying the tension they're under and pushing that on to the viewer, which makes it very stressful! A fairly damning appraisal of the male ego and their eagerness to take part in character assassination. 6/10 *this may have got a little lost in translation.

«Chevalier» is a Greek work that I receive with gratitude, which surpasses the enthusiasm I felt for «Attenberg», the other film that I know of its director, Athina Rachel Tsangari. Right from its inspired opening, in which, through the sea mist, we see several divers emerge from the water to a deserted beach, Tsangari built in an enigmatic way this tale of dueling men, full of humor and knowledge of male vanity. Little by little, the portrait of six mature men takes form. They have spent a few days, plying the Aegean Sea in a luxurious yacht, diving and practicing sea sports, and they are shortly returning to Athens. During a dinner, the friends have the idea of playing Chevalier, a game to decide who the best of all is. The winner will receive a (Chevalier) ring as his prize. As Tsangari did in «Attenberg», dealing with recognizable characteristics of female psyche and sensuality, in «Chevalier» she successfully displays the competitive spirit of the challenged male, through the different tests and evaluations that they put themselves through, reaching moments in which it is revealed how aggressive, absurd, stodgy, stupid, ridiculous and funny we can become to win a game. «Chevalier» is a beautiful film: it captures the strength and simplicity of its plot with clarity and brightness, in interiors, open spaces and the faces of the small cast, made up of accomplished actors. When I saw the film I thought of Yorgos Lanthimos and I said, "This is what you should be doing, Yorgos". To my surprise, I found out in the credits that the script was co-written by the director and Efthymis Filippou, the same author who wrote my favorite films by Lanthimos, from «Dogtooth» to «The Killing of the Sacred Deer». (In fact, he worked on the script of «Chevalier», after «The Lobster» and before the "Sacred Deer"). It is a pleasure to see a cinema that is so different, to feel airs of peace, other ways of seeing the world, without violence or slaughters to control the world, and I applaud it with joy. Bravo, Athina Rachel Tsangari, for understanding us and being compassionate to us, men.

The film is about a bunch of men overtly engaging in comparing their status and worth. This sounds as comedic a premise as any, but the director is quite restrained and doles out the funnies in a languid tempo (although there is certainly a climax to the proceedings). The writing is very good, and takes care to provide details that deftly flesh out the characters: these are not rah-rah bros, the relationships among them are subtle and fuel much of the action. The actors are quite brilliant, always shy of hamming it up, perhaps tellingly so.

This is what I found most impressive about the film, the sense of director's control of the material. You could milk this premise for a lot of cheap laughs, but the film feels free to go broad or subtle, just hint at hilarious episodes, take the time to enjoy the view from the boat, linger a while at the harbour before going back home. At all times however the perspective is assured, the characters are never made fun of, and the viewer is invited to witness as much silliness as they like.

I am docking a bunch of points because all this restraint on balance does gets a bit draining, but I think that everyone will enjoy the time spent at the company of these gentlemen.