At dusk,we will go find our families.
Let The Women Wait is a 1998 Greek comedy film, directed by Stavros Tsiolis and starring Giannis Zouganelis, Argyris Bakirtzis, and Sakis Boulas.
Brothers-in-law Panos (Zouganelis) and Michalis (Bakirtzis) start the return trip to the island of Thasos, back to their families. However, on their way, a chance encounter with a woman will cause Panos to have a mental breakdown. The third brother-in-law, alderman Antonis (Boulas) arrives to get them both home, but he too becomes involved in various events.
Let the Women Wait ιs the second part of the Women Thematic Trilogy.note It has achieved cult status for its many quotable lines and accurate satire of Greek culture in the late '90s.
The movie can be seen here
, and subtitles can be found here.
This film contains examples of:
- And Then What?: Michalis destroys Panos' psyche by pointing out that he and the girl he is fantasizing over have no realistic future together.
- Arc Words: "We need to get back to our families." and variations thereof. Usually followed by a variation of "Either we all go or no one!"
- Artistic License – Medicine:The multiplication table method is, naturally, complete nonsense.
- Drowning women in the lake might work, but that's still hilariously awful advice.
- "Could Have Avoided This!" Plot: Michalis laments that if he hadn't stopped to help the couple, none of this would have happened. Panos insists that the girl had nothing do with his destabliziation.
- Destructive Romance: Michalis sums it up:Michalis: "Because, people do not forgive those who due to love have fallen!"
- Flowery Insults: Panos has many.Panos: As if we were waiting for the Laconian farmers to come and teach us what a penalty is...
- Freudian Trio: Panos is the Id, brash and hot blooded. Antonis is the Superego, waxing poetically about the revolutions PASOK will bring to Greece. Michalis is the Ego, quietly listening to them both.
- Here We Go Again!: The movie ends with the protagonists making yet another detour on their way home, which probably won't be the last.
- Love Makes You Crazy: Or rather, it makes you lose your impulse control.
- Mood Whiplash: Pretty much every conversation changes from funny to tragic to funny again on a dime. A memorable example:Antonis: "[My wife] took our kid's picture from the drawer and was looking at it."Michalis: "Which picture?"Antonis: "From our kid that drowned. [...] And she said...if the ocean did not take it...we would be together, happy."Panos: "I had the same. Christmas Eve and she starts with how I don't earn enough..."
- Name One: Panos invokes this when Antonis says that Michalis has made a myriad sacrifices for him. Naturally, Antonis has an example at the ready - Michalis took the blame for a fight Panos had with a soccer referee.
- Opinion Flip Flop: Panos goes from cursing Antonis to calling him a saint in the same conversation, without skipping a beat.
- Random Events Plot: The film is more like a series of loosely connected sketches than a movie.
- Rage Breaking Point: Mild-mannered Michalis finally hits his limit when Panos and Antonis try to send him alone back to Thasos.Michalis: "I, deflate the tires! I, mix sugar into the gas!"
- Skewed Priorities: While trying to resuscitate Antonis, Panos is more concerned with saving his jacket than his life. The next scene shows why: all his money was in there and they managed to dry them out (and then lie to him so they can keep it for themselves).
- Straight Man: Michalis is more down to earth than both of his brothers-in-law, and both of them confide in him.
- Trivial Tragedy: At least Panos trying to drown himself over a (non-existent, two minute) heartbreak can be excused. But Antonis jumps in a pool because his mother voted for the other party once.
- Vitriolic Best Buds: The three protagonists seem to care for each other, in their own way.
- Unsympathetic Comedy Protagonist: All three brothers-in-law to an extent, but Panos comes out on top for having very few redeeming qualities, one of which being his desire to stop Antonis from committing adultery. Even so, this is for mainly selfish reasons: he realizes he will not be able to support the fractured household such an affair will create.
Our fates will be the same as the woodcocklings...
