Sappho (2008)

Crappy film

Simple and well acted, it has tension enough to knot the stomach.

A movie that not only functions as a solid scarefest but a razor-sharp satire.

Exactly the movie you think it is, but not the movie you want it to be.

Not the best, but certainly not the worst movie dealing with lesbianism that I've ever seen. The acting was pretty poor, especially in the beginning and it was wrought with clichés (especially the awful crazy/dead lesbian one). But, it did have it's moments. The cinematography was absolutely gorgeous and I loved the soft colors. Sappho, played by Avalon Barrie, starts off as a very irritating character, but as you get further into the film, you start to realize that she's like that because she's always repressed who she really was and even when she's trying to break free of her old self, no one will take her seriously. I admit that the end of the film where she is rejected by Helena made me feel really bad for her. The ideas in this story are good, I just felt as if they weren't executed well enough.

I'm writing this note because somebody wrote a comment that this film is nothing we haven't seen before. Obviously, the writer's not from Ukraine and Russia, because this film is just everything we've never seen before - a beautiful tender tragic sexually-confused love story which at the end leaves everybody to make up their own minds. For us, Sappho is amazingly original and new. And amazingly popular in cinemas too.Thinkong about it, maybe the writer's not from America too, because recently I haven't seen any American movies this open and interesting and intelligent. So I guess he's from Mars. Or maybe some magical country where they only make good movies, and not stupid films like "Wanted".

Yet another lesbian drama (set, of course, on the Isle of Lesbos) where the "transgression" of lesbianism is punished by the death of at least one of them. The relative tedium of the movie is offset by the lovely scenery (oh, and the island's pretty, too), along with the amusingly bad acting of, well, pretty much everyone. So, to sum up: lovely women getting naked (good!); plot, acting, script, direction: bad! (Unfortunately, though, not bad enough to give it cult status.) I'd say that if you were stuck on a desert (Greek) island with just one movie, and it were "Sappho" ... oh, you poor thing. On the other hand, it might help you pass those long, lonely nights (just fast forward.)

An American couple goes to Greece for their honeymoon, and soon after befriends a smart and beautiful Russian girl, who feels lonely on the island while her father does important archaeological work. You can probably guess where the movie plot is going, but yet it is full of surprises and unexpected psychological twists and turns. Without giving any spoilers away, I would say that the plot would keep you on the edge of your seat up until the very last scene (which I found shocking and somewhat regrettable). I especially liked the dialogs, full of eloquent allusions - they were quite thoughtful and sophisticated. And last, but not least - you get to see beautiful panoramic views of mesmerizing nature, sea, and shores as well as detailed scenes of town's life with its own cultural treasures and unique customs. And lots of tits and ass as well :)