Chevalier
Who's 'The Best in General'? That's the question six competitive men aboard a yacht set out to answer through an ever-changing set of metrics and challenges in this Greek comedy. Best Film winner at London Film Festival 2015.
"This engagingly deadpan look at the male ego was one of the most original comedies made last year, and winner of Best Film at the BFI London Film Festival. Co-written by Efthymis Filippou (Dogtooth, The Lobster), Athina Rachel Tsangari’s second feature is lighter and more straightforward than her acclaimed Attenberg. Six men sailing around the Aegean on a fishing holiday decide to extend their angling rivalry by embarking on a series of tests of manhood; by assessing each other’s performances with regard to physical prowess, practical skills, taste and so on, they aim to discover who’s ‘Best in General.’ Inevitably, as they submit to the absurdly mundane challenges – best sleeping posture, best silver-polisher, etc – rivalries and insecurities emerge, allegiances shift, tempers fray, all to insightful and frequently very funny effect." (BFI)
Reviews & comments
Village Voice
pressDespite the claustrophobic setting and Tsangari's observational style, Chevalier doesn't register as hermetic or coolly condescending; the film feels loose and agile even amid so much capricious rule-making.
Time Out
pressYou could, if you wanted, find underlying ideas about the Greek ruling class and their isolation from reality. Or you could just go for the macho posturing, ego-puncturing and arthouse dick jokes.
The New York Times
pressWhile the film is full of artifice and allegorical implication, it also presents itself as a quasiscientific look at human male pack behaviour in the wild.
The Guardian
pressThe performances are focused and controlled, but, like the yacht itself, the film is going nowhere, dramatically and conceptually.
Los Angeles Times
pressScene by scene, it builds a vision of group dynamics as calm, violent and finally unyielding as the sea.
Hollywood Reporter
pressWith evident glee, the female director subverts gender stereotypes from the get-go.
Village Voice
pressDespite the claustrophobic setting and Tsangari's observational style, Chevalier doesn't register as hermetic or coolly condescending; the film feels loose and agile even amid so much capricious rule-making.
Time Out
pressYou could, if you wanted, find underlying ideas about the Greek ruling class and their isolation from reality. Or you could just go for the macho posturing, ego-puncturing and arthouse dick jokes.
The New York Times
pressWhile the film is full of artifice and allegorical implication, it also presents itself as a quasiscientific look at human male pack behaviour in the wild.
The Guardian
pressThe performances are focused and controlled, but, like the yacht itself, the film is going nowhere, dramatically and conceptually.
Los Angeles Times
pressScene by scene, it builds a vision of group dynamics as calm, violent and finally unyielding as the sea.
Hollywood Reporter
pressWith evident glee, the female director subverts gender stereotypes from the get-go.
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