Cheap Smokes

Renos Haralambidis's 2001 Greek film takes place in an Athens emptied out in August. Everyone has left for the holidays, and one of the few people still in the city is the man at the centre of the story. He starts talking to a woman he meets at a phone box and the two walk the streets together through the night. The film does not construct a love story; it describes two strangers briefly sharing the same emptiness. The talk is scattered and everyday: the price of cigarettes, rent, not finding work and being alone in the city. The director also takes the lead and the film was made cheaply, mostly on real locations. The images of the empty city are its real strength, standing there like a character. It is one of the Greek independent films of its period. Who it's for: viewers who like quiet city films and loose storytelling. Who it's not for: anyone expecting plot; the film is one night's walk.