The Zero Years (2005)

Judging the legacy of a filmmaker can be a difficult thing given that any artist's work is bound to be judged differently by each individual, be they fans or detractors. Even among the field of divisive filmmakers, Nikos Nikolaidis is a particularly interesting case in that his work is widely viewed through a Greek perspective, with the majority of his films being underrepresented outside of his home country. Outside of Greece, Nikolaidis is probably always going to be the “crazy” man behind Singapore Sling (1990) but his body of work as a whole is deserving of a more nuanced evaluation. It's going to sound cliché, but like so many individualistic filmmakers, if there's one legacy left behind by Nikolaidis, it would be one of freedom. An extreme personality, Nikolaidis was the type who, when pushed, pushed back even harder which of course did him no favors with the Greek Film Commission who fought to keep Nikolaidis' work hidden. Nikolaidis' defiance won him a loyal cult following which is still strong to this day with a younger generation of Greek film fans discovering his work. Nikolaidis would pass in 2007, but not before completing one last, potent view of the world as he saw it, bringing his career full circle with The Zero Years in 2005, completing the Shape of the Coming Nightmare trilogy which began with his first feature Euridice BA 2037 (1975).

Much like See You in Hell, My Darling (1999), The Zero Years is far from a conventionally plotted film. Taking place entirely within a brothel under nonstop surveillance by a fascistic government, herkening back to the isolated setting as in Euridice BA 2037, the three main residents are soon joined by a fourth who believes her stay will be brief before receiving a transfer. Forcibly sterilized by the powers that be, the girls are ordered to dish out sadistic beatings to costumers and perform solo dances in front of rabid onlookers, only to face more oppression when a costumer goes missing, all the while fantasizing of retreating to “the sea”, the ideal destination of the protagonists of Morning Patrol (1987), the second film in the Shape of the Coming Nightmare trilogy.

Again, the film is Nikolaidis coming full circle as not only does The Zero Years complete the Shape of the Coming Nightmare trilogy, taking place in the wasteland envisioned in Euridice BA 2037 and Morning Patrol, the group dynamic of the four girls gives it much in common with Nikolaids' loose trilogy of The Wretches are Still Singing (1979), Sweet Bunch (1983) and Loser TakesAll (2002) and like in those films, the bond between the characters creates a strong feeling of solidarity, the two standouts of the group being Vicky Harris and Jenny Kitselli who previously stole in the show in See You In Hell and Loser Takes All respectively. The world the film takes place in is yet another example of Nikolaidis' obsession with the idea of purgatory, Harris' character being almost an extension of Euridice with her hopeful, yet ultimately futile promises of a transfer and better life outside the brothel only to feel constantly stuck in the nightmare the outside world has become. While the similarities with Nikolaidis' other films are numerous, one aspect where the film differs greatly is in the visuals. Whereas Nikolaidis' other films are highly stylized, The Zero Years by contrast is as visually morose as its mood, shot on grungy digital video with a washed out and seedy look. The film is also aligned with Singapore Sling and See You In Hell in being one of Nikolaidis' most horror-based with its sadomasochistic imagery and the hints of the girls being visited by violent specters.

Fascinatingly, although the film closes out the Shape of the Coming Nightmare trilogy and Nikolaidis' filmography as a whole, the story was developed even before Euridice BA 2037 and originally was intended to be the middle film in the trilogy with Morning Patrol being the finale and the one to finally show what the outside world had become, though the circling back to one singular interior location ala Euridice BA 2037 made The Zero Years the ideal final chapter. Nikolaidis said of the film “Silence, chemical suppression, state fascism, broken communication, fear and apathy have all been installed for good... It would be a mistake to interpret this as a futuristic story. No matter how harsh it may appear this movie is about the shape of things that are already here and established, along with the set of things that are just starting to be applied, while we already feel their consequences... Any other approach to the meaning of the movie, will fling it to the domain of futurism and I, assisted by the direction, want to talk about a story of today, instead of being misunderstood about describing something that will happen someday, somewhere.” Nikolaidis would also proclaim “...the nightmare evolves to where I had predicted. I have got nothing else to say”, thus making The Zero Years the definitive final statement from one of the most original voices in world cinema.

“I have a faint impression that we’re all heading towards Hell, and that Rita Hayworth will never come to our rendezvous.” - Nikos Nikolaidis

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.