Duration:
113 minutes
Plot:
Eros and Soul (Cupid and Psyche).
In Ancient Greek Mythology, Soul was the beautiful daughter of a king. Aphrodite was jealous of her fame and told her son, Eros, to hit Soul with an arrow and make her fall in love with the ugliest man in the world. When Eros saw her, he was enchanted, and he accidentally hit himself with his arrow.
Daphne (Niki Vakali), a student in Political Sciences, is walking alone at night, to return home after a night out. Her eyes are fixed on her smartphone, and she is not aware of two men watching her. Suddenly, they grab her, drag her into a dark alley and try to rape her. Farris (Tawfeek Barhom), a Syrian refugee, hears her screams and dashes to help her. “Run! Run!” he yells in English, and Daphne runs away desperately – in the beginning she hesitates because she is leaving her saviour behind and then she runs quicker and quicker. He manages to escape too, but they had hit him a lot. He has Daphne’s phone in his hands. In the cracked screen, he watches her pictures, her face.
Antonis (Minas Hatzisavvas) would be a pensioner but the economic crisis bankrupted him. His shops were destroyed many times. He took loans to buy merchandise, and now he cannot pay them back. He has even sold his car for pennies on the dollar. He blames the refugees for everything. He joins a far-right group and participates in attacks against foreigners.
Maria (Maria Kavogianni) met Sebastian (J.K. Simmons) at a Veropoulos super market. When she understands that he is a German she doesn’t like it, but he asks for help because he has back problem, and she helps him without any hesitation. After all, she does not believe it is fair to charge all German people for their government’s politics. He does not speak any Greek at all, and she knows very few words in English, but somehow, they communicate. More with their eyes than in words. She tells him she has children and a grandchildren. She goes to the super market once a week, for a walk, not for shopping. The crisis has affected her family as well. Sebastian begs her to meet again next week. He will wait to see her again.
Giorgos (Christopher Papakaliatis) and his wife have become two perfect strangers. It’s been a long time that he prefers to sleep on the couch at night. In the evenings, he plays console games with his son. And this is his only connection at home. When his wife needs his help and tries to “cope” with their son, Giorgos prefers to stay uninvolved, locked up in the bathroom. At work, where he wears his headphones and listens to music, Giorgos seems to be in a more familiar environment. He has depression and the doctor prescribed antidepressants. He has to take one pill every night at 11 o’clock. In a bar, he meets Elise (Andrea Osvárt). Their acquaintance begins in the wrong path, but they end up in bed for a… night of passion. Late at night, Elise wakes him up and asks him to leave. Giorgos cannot believe it but, politely in English – and not so politely in Greek – he says goodbye. In the morning, when Elise gets up from her bed, she stumbles. Giorgos pills are on the floor beside her bed.
Our impressions and movie review:
The “Worlds Apart” is the best work of Papakaliatis so far, and this movie is almost a poetic creation. He did an amazing job as a director, he wrote an excellent screenplay, and there is no part of the film that could be made better. 
J.K. Simmons is a perfect and Maria Kavogianni stands besides him as his equal. Minas Hatzisavvas gives an excellent performance that happened to be the last of his career. A man who took a public stand against the fascism and in favor of the refugees, plays a character so different from his beliefs. Andrea Osvárt is very convincing as the cold-blooded executive of a multinational corporation and Christopher Papakaliatis gives a strong performance against her. The younger couple of the story, Niki Vakali and Tawfeek Barhom as Farris, will surely thrill you.
The film “Worlds Apart” is not just one of the best movies that premiered this season. This is one of the best movies I have ever seen. I believed that Papakaliatis is a talented artist, but I have never imagined that he could present to us such a masterpiece. You must definitely see this movie!
Worlds Apart – Trailer (English subs)
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=2EpAq0KJoj8
Trivial from Worlds Apart
- [JK Simmons talks about his movie character]
I had recently finished a movie called Whiplash which was getting a lot of attention. I played a very angry person in that film and I told my agent, I would like to find a nice sweet character to play and I would like to find a love story for sixty years olds. And the next day he got the script from Chris, send it to me and I said this is exactly what I am looking for. - There are scenes with the Epitaph and the Orthodox Easter, because the film was supposed to hit the theaters on March 2015. It got postponed for the autumn and it was finally released on December 17th, 2015.
- The production lasted more than three years.
Movie Quote from Worlds Apart
[newscast excerpt]
Indisputable example is Greece, which for many acts as the guinea pig for cruel financial politics that gradually have started to expand to the rest of Europe. Is this a democracy that has the nation’s health as a goal? Is the European Union falling apart? Is this what globalization is all about? Is it possible that things are not exactly how we thought they were? How people deal with the situation? Is this new global reality going to influence and define our decisions and generally human relations?
Movie Quote from Worlds Apart
Antonis: Everywhere I go, everywhere I look, the streets are full of those filthy people. I want them vanished. I want them out of our country.
Movie Quote from Worlds Apart
Daphne: I don’t care about Politics and I don’t care if everybody thinks it’s a mistake. I want to be with you. Anywhere you go. Anywhere we can be together. Anywhere we’re allowed to.
Movie Quote from Worlds Apart
Elise: All your departments are overstaffed. Mitigation is a given.
Movie Quote from Worlds Apart
Elise: I never understood why some people take antidepressants.
Giorgos: Maybe because sometimes life is not that easy.
Elise: Maybe that’s a good excuse.
Movie Quote from Worlds Apart
[in English]
Giorgos: You don’t believe falling in love can change everything?
Elise: No.
[in Greek]
Giorgos: That’s too bad because I wanted to tell you that I’m falling in love with you.
[in English]
Elise: You said something in Greek so I won’t understand.
Giorgos: Yes.
Movie Quote from Worlds Apart
Sebastian: There are thousands of interpretations that have been given throughout the years about the power of being in love. The Ancient Greeks understood that power and they made Love a God. They named him Eros. Erotas.
Movie Quote from Worlds Apart
[in Greek]
Maria: If only you knew how I long to see you every week.
Sebastian: I miss you. A lot.
Movie Quote from Worlds Apart
SEBASTIAN: Everything starts from falling in love. No matter how old we are.
MARIA: What if it’s toο late?… How can I change it all now?
SEBASTIAN: Maria, we all deserve a second chance.
Credits:
Writers:
Christopher Papakaliatis
Director:
Christopher Papakaliatis
Cast:
J.K. Simmons – Sebastian
Maria Kavogianni – Maria
Minas Hatzisavvas – Antonis
Christopher Papakaliatis – Giorgos
Andrea Osvárt – Elise
Tawfeek Barhom – Farris
Niki Vakali – Daphne
Odisseas Spiliopoulos – Odisseas
Nikos Hatzopoulos – Ilias
Dimitris Lignadis – member of the far-right group
Matthaios Korovesis – son of Giorgos
Gadjo-Dilo – music band
Production Companies and Distributors:
Plus Productions S.A.
Alpha
Aegean Airlines
ΟΤΕ TV
Village
Official Site
WorldsApartFilm.com
A.A.