Our national tragedy, turned comedy.
Loafing And Camouflage is a 1984 Greek comedy film, directed by Nikos Perakis. It features an Ensemble Cast, with the biggest focus on Nikos Kalogeropoulos as Private Giannis Papadopoulos. The film follows a group of soldiers before and during The Military Junta of 1967, as they work on the recently established Armed Forces Television.
The film is largely autobiographical, based on Perakis' experience setting up the real Armed Forces Television. It was highly succesful and remains a part of pop culture to this day.
This film contains examples of:
- All for Nothing: Papadopoulos ends up exactly where he started, and with his time served greatly increased.
- Dark and Troubled Past: Lekas was a communist who was beaten daily before he was sent to the film unit. Later on, Papadopoulos discovers that they knew each other from a demonstration.
- Death by Despair: Lekas shoots himself shortly after the coup.
- Exact Words: Labrou weasels his way into the film crew by claiming to know how to handle reflectors. When they're about to leave, he clarifies: "I didn't say that we had reflectors. I just said that I knew how to handle them."
- I Know A Guy: Labrou has connections with a lot of people, from swimsuits to porn.
- Period Piece: Set in 1967, the start of the Junta.
- Reasonable Authority Figure: Colonel Kontellis. Altough he is strict, he also "rescued" a lot of left-leaning soldiers by bringing them in the film unit. He also seems to be conflicted about the Junta, though he obviously never voices it. The other commanding officers, however...
- Roman à Clef: As the summary of the film puts it: "The story may be only 95% true, but that is simply because the true story is even more absurd…"
- With Friends Like These...: Mpalourdos gets this the most, and rightfully so, given that he constantly bums from everyone else. At the end of the film, Papadopoulos becomes sick of everyone else, and happily burns the picture they took together.
I'm fed up... With you and your bird...
