Loser Takes All (2002)

Loose trilogies are interesting in that they allow filmmakers to explore similar ideas in a way so that one film doesn't have to be directly connected to the other. For instance, Dario Argento's “Three Animals” trilogy consisting of The Bird With the Crystal Plumage (1970), The Cat o' Nine Tales (1971) and Four Flies on Grey Velvet (1972) all share, along with the obvious animal references in the titles, certain connective themes while not being a cohesive series as opposed to Argento's “Three Mothers” trilogy, Suspiria (1977), Inferno (1980) and Mother of Tears (2007), the three witches or mothers being the connective tissue. David Lynch's trio of films known as the “LA Trilogy”, Lost Highway (1997), Mulholland Drive (2001) and Inland Empire (2006) also qualifies with all three centering on the idea of a double, or doppelganger without sharing any characters. Underground Greek legend Nikos Nikolaidis seemed to prefer working within the trilogy format with 6 out of his 8 theatrical features forming trilogies. One was deliberate, the “Shape of the Coming Nightmare” trilogy, Euridice BA 2037 (1975), Morning Patrol (1987) and The Zero Years (2005), focused on dystopian society but Nikolaidis also formed a more loose trilogy out of three other films, The Wretches are Still Singing (1979), Sweet Bunch (1983) and his penultimate film, 2002's Loser Takes All, yet another saga on the underdogs dwelling on the outskirts of Greek society.

After his ex-girlfriend Elsa reluctantly allows him to sleep in her apartment, a nameless deadbeat with a pet bird named Belafonte and a tendency to misquote the Book of Revelations (Giannis Aggelakas, frontman for the legendary Greek alternative band Trypes) takes a job from a shady private detective of sorts, surveying the activities of Mantali, a Senegalese stripper. Upon discovering Mantali's role in a drug dealing operation, the man gets the harebrained idea of getting himself involved and much to his own surprise, pulls it off. Confident that he can pull off something bigger, the man hatches a scheme involving ripping off the crime organization Mantali is forced to work for and enlists the assistance of Elsa, her current boyfriend, a young singer/songwriter (Nikolaidis' son Simon) and Odette (Jenny Kitseli), an alcoholic acquaintance all in the hopes of one big score giving each enough money to escape their stagnant lives in the city.

Nikolaidis' most accessible film, Loser Takes All (O chamenos ta pairnei ola, Ο χαμένος τα παίρνει όλα) follows in the tradition The Wretches are Still Singing and Sweet Bunch in that at its core the film is concerned with the dynamics of an eccentric group of outsiders who all feel perpetually stuck and desperate for escape, yet again an example of Nikolaidis' obsession with the idea of purgatory. In a lot of ways the film could be seen as a slightly more humorous Sweet Bunch. While the film gets incredibly heavy, even downright tragic, in the final third, the film is one of Nikolaidis most humorous. A good bit of the humor is incidental, especially as it relates to the nameless man's success at pulling off acts which, for all intensive purposes, an individual such as he should fall flat on his face in such circumstances. Much like Nikolaidis' other two “gang” films, the heart of the film is the characters and just as in Wretches and Sweet Bunch, despite certain traits in many of the characters, Nikolaidis paints them in such a way that its nearly impossible not to quickly warm to them and eventually root for their success in their scheme. Aggelakas is brilliant in the lead with a deadpan nature and perfect timing but its Jenny Kitseli as the terminally drunk Odette, affectionately nicknamed “Miss Raspberry” who steals the show with her constant needing to vomit and staggering that provides the film with a good portion of its aforementioned humor.

An interesting thing regarding the film is that it was made a good few years before Greek's economic crisis which the film seems to predict in certain scenes where the man comments on the Euro as well as the influx of refugees. Another thing regarding the tone of the film is that despite being made in the early 2000's, there is a very 90's feel to a lot of it which was intentional as Nikolaidis stated “I am concerned with the way the movie approaches the nineties generation. A generation that’s growing up within the loneliness of its self-knowledge, looking for values in the past, and trapped in a pointless anticipation of “messages” and “exits”, which are obstructed and lead nowhere. I'm interested in the uncertainty the heroes have... I'm interested in the trap that is laid before them and the romanticism they use to avoid it, in how they laugh at themselves and the establishment, in their beliefs of love and companionship as well as their beliefs of love for companionship...” Nikolaidis summed up the films message by saying “This movie is dedicated to all those kids that come down from the hills at night and walk around the dark alleys of our city... What matters is…Here no more!” A sentiment may can relate to, which makes Loser Takes All, along with possibly Sweet Bunch, the perfect introduction for a Nikolaidis novice.