TO MIKRO PSARI – Babis Papadopoulos

Original Review by Alan Rogers

To Mikro Psari (Το Μικρο Ψαρι) (literally translated as “Little Fish” but released under the title “Stratos”) is a Greek crime drama co-written and directed by Yannis Economides. With the backdrop of the economic decline and moral decay of recession-hit Greece, the film follows Stratos (Vangelis Mourikis), a bakery worker by night and hired hit man by day, as his complex life begins to unravel piece by piece. Reviews of the film have been mixed, with critics commenting that the film is too long, too slow and not particularly exciting. From what little I have seen, the film is bleak and brooding with an emphasis on a washed-out, grey colour palette. The composer of the score is guitarist, arranger and composer Babis Papadopoulos who is probably best-known for being a member of “Trypes”, an influential Greek rock band from the mid-1980s. Papadopoulos delivers an interesting guitar-only score built around a few basis chords which, though containing some catchy hooks that stay in the mind after the score has finished, has minimal emotional impact when heard separate from the film.