Synopsis from the Greek Film Festival booklet: Titled for the Australian 2010 Greek Film festival as "The Tell Tale Garden" this is a black comedy based on filmmaker Kleanthis Danopoulos's novel 'Athootites', A Tell-Tale Garden is the year's most underground film, how underground? About 6 feet under!
Fedonas and Anastasia's life together is only just beginning; madly in love with plans for a family they find themselves a big house to start their new life. But when Fedonas decides to plant a palm tree in their backyard the garden gives up a long-buried secret and with it comes some unwanted attention from the police and the local mafia. As the landlord had warned them "Never dig... in someone else's garden!"
Featuring hilarious and dark comedic performances A Tell-Tale Garden is about new life, old crimes and the secrets buried at the bottom of the garden.
Review: I received some free, last minute tickets to this screening @ the 2010 Greek Film Festival earlier this week. My wife who a few days early had picked the best film of the festival 180 Degrees (review here elsewhere) looked at the booklet for this and stayed home. Apart from a nice drive to the cinema on a perfect Melbourne spring night I wish I'd done the same.
Positives on arriving at the theater were that Monday night the tapas and cocktails are half price so with a Strawberry Daquari & a nice plate of cheese, etc I found my seat.
The directors, etc here were in such of a hurry to get to the garden here with all the buried bodies that the meeting and courtship of the leading couple all took place in about 2 mins. We saw their courtship in one shot with a series of Polaroids! So forget about any romantic build up.
The advice from an Indian workmate/fortune teller that the lead man had to dig a hole and plant a big palm tree so he and his wife who'd been trying without success to have their first baby could do so is the basis of the story.
It's all pretty lame. Dead bodies, skeletons and skulls are not my thing. Once again like a lot of bad Greek films this felt more like a play or theater production with most of the film taking place in the back yard.
So unless you can score a free ticket or have a half price cocktail at the cinema I'd give this one a definite miss. For me it had none of the energy a true comedy needs.
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