Since time immemorial, gender roles have both polarized society and been a strong theme throughout art. Film is no exception, with a rich history of cinema that has endeavored to inform, educate, empathize and rationalize the individual or societal dynamics between men and women or parents and children. The Greek films discussed in this blog each grapple respectively with gender power dynamics, patriarchal systems, the pressures placed on men and women in relationships, as well as the physical, psychological and societal effects of challenging the status quo. In Masculinity and Gender in Greek Cinema (1949-1967), Hadjikyriacou draws attention to the “existence of diversity in the ways people experienced their gender roles” (20). [1]Social change and changes in gender relations challenged the traditional notion of masculinity, allowing for the emergence of alternative masculinities that go beyond the hegemonic patriarchal model. As noted by Hadjikyriacou, “changes in Greek society influenced gender experiences, perceptions and representations”. [2]
While structured gendered roles and expectations were commonplace around the world for millennia and still active today, the films analyzed in this blog exemplify that in an ever-changing reality, a one-dimensional perspective on the roles of women and men or parents and children is unsustainable psychologically, socially, or functionally. The backstory of these films often include a Greece in societal or financial crisis. While the community around the men in these films, respectively, becomes more difficult to navigate, so does the understanding of how a man should operate in response. Films, like all art, are multi-layered in their themes or purpose; however, one can conclude that the filmmakers have demonstrated that traditional patriarchy is an inherently flawed system, as it cannot, on an individual level, adapt to a modern reality.
[1] Hadjikyriacou, Achilleas. “Masculinity and Gender in Greek Cinema: 1949–67.” Masculinity and Gender in Greek Cinema : 1949–1967: 1-28. dos:10.5040/9781628928792.ch-002.