ABSTRACT

This chapter counterposes a reading of another recent Greek film, Na kathesai kai na koitas (Standing Aside, Watching, 2013), directed by Yorgos Servetas, in which issues of financial and cultural status complicate class identity. It provides the socio-political context of the recession years, hinging on the symbolically powerful moment of the 2015 referendum. Yorgos Lanthimos' second feature film, Dogtooth, widely seen as the flag-bearer of the so-called Weird Wave in recent Greek cinema, was the first Greek film in more than a decade to win a major award at a film festival. Antigone's disdain for waged labour is consistent with a tendency of Greek cinema to turn away from the focus on working-class solidarity and organising which was prominent. Despite her shortcomings, Antigone stands out as a character whose justified anger drives her to give the world the shape she imagines: disappointment, as Rosa Luxemburg once said, is not an option for her, as her angry closing voiceover betrays.