The film Kapodistrias is not educational

In the last Greek School newsletter (the School Compass), parents are encouraged to watch the recent film by Yiannis Smaragdis: Kapodistrias (The Governor). The recommendation comes from the Greek Educational Mission, presumably from the Greek Embassy.

I am writing this blog-post to clarify that the film Kapodistrias is certainly not educational. Educational films are written and shot with the intention to educate an audience. Kapodistrias is a drama film and arguably a film about historical events. It is not shot for kids. It is not a documentary. It does not reference archival or historical sources. It has been written as a biographical drama by Smaragdis, presumably based on some research, but the film is far from accurate in its depiction of the period. One wonders, therefore, what is the understanding of “educational” by the Greek Educational Mission.

The film was negatively reviewed by film critics. I am just referencing a few of these reviews here, but there are many more. I do not agree with the analyses articulated in these texts, but they are an indication of a broad range of people considering the film historically inaccurate, with a deeply problematic depiction of Kapodistrias lacking real historical context. Apologies these reviews are mostly in Greek but I am sure the automated translation tools will give you a decent idea of the content:

Hristos Loukos, a biographer of Kapodistrias has outlined the historical inaccuracies in the film,
Film critic Yiannis Fragoulis explains why the film is not a “true story” as claimed by the production team,
Film critic Konstantinos Kaimakis calls the film a naive hagiography of Kapodistrias,
Film critic Hristos Mitsis calls it a melodrama and a one-dimensional depiction of allegorical simplicity (review also in English), and then gives it 1.5 stars out of 5.
Journalist Stratos Kersanidis calls the film shallow and the discussion about Kapodistrias being declared a saint by the church, as beyond any boundaries of meaningful engagement with history.

One wonders what the investors of this flop (the film cost €7.5M) could have used their money for? And I believe this includes the Greek State. Perhaps improve Greek language education in Wales?

Why is Kapodistrias promoted as an educational film

If it is so obvious that the historical content of the film is problematic, the question is why would the Greek Educational Mission promote it as a film our kids can learn from? And the answer is simple:

the film projects a simplistic view of the messiah politician who will save his people with his charismatic / saint-like attitude. This is a typical narrative of the ruling class: “the people cannot and should not act to define their lives, but instead wait for a messiah to save them”. I.e. communities should stay passive and simply embrace the infalable (celebrity) status of the currently promoted politican serving the ruling class.
the film combines religious sentiment with state governance and continues the old narrative that “the church and the state are irrevocably linked, especially in the case of Greece”, (and the narrative continues) “given that orthodoxy is naturally superior to other types of christianity and it remains a duty of the Greeks to preserve it”.

This is in line to the reasons that the Greek School parade is being promoted as well. The drive is to increase our nationalistic sentiment, and the de-facto argument is because “the world has become dangerous”. People are expected to adhere to blind patriotism where decision making is nothing to do with their will, but it is reserved for the saint-like elite whose judgment cannot be doubted. Hence we celebrate the military-like parade and the film Kapodistrias.

This is where I disagree completely: we are certainly heading towards a period of further crisis, but no messiah can help us through it. Decision making must be done by and for communities.

The Educational Mission should review their understanding of what Greek education means in Britain. It is not about recommending nationalistic secord-rate films as educational material. It is about providing school buildings and teachers. It is about providing access to Greek language education to all Greeks living in Britain.

As a final point, I would like to say that the Greek School in Cardiff should be a little more critical of the kind of instructions that are passed down from London and make informed decisions on whether to propagate them.

The Greek Leek

P.S. If you really want to watch a greek film this month, look for Hen (Κότα). Ingenious, current and to the point.