Movie & TV Reviews

[Soldier of Macedon]

As for the “outrage” in FYROM...Zaev has come out in defence of the Albanians, who have been offended by the movie's portrayal of UCK terrorists. UCK have even threatened Jani Bojadzi's life over the portrayal which has prompted the movie director to make a statement to the media, saying "Macedonia's Ministry of Culture's earlier statement that the film's portrayal of UCK terrorists is an attempt to brand all Albanians as terrorists is a slide into fascism and censure. With that statement they have invited death threats and violence against me as an artist as well as violence and terror to the movie “Mocking of Christ” as a form of art" (I should note that the current Ministerial Portfolio is held by an Albanian, Asaf Ademi, who recently took over the job from Robert Alagjozovski). Getting back to Zaev, although he hasn't seen the movie, he concurs that the movie spreads “Hate Speech” against the Albanians as per the advice given to him by his advisers. He has called on the Director of the Macedonian Film Agency for a cease and desist on all activities surrounding the promotion of this movie because “that is what is expected of us now”...I'm sure he doesn't just mean the supposed “hate speech” against the Albanians but, much, much more importantly, the expectation to fulfill the Prespa Agreement obligations of not promoting the existence of Macedonians over the Greek border.

Idiots. The movie looks good though. Looking forward to watching it.

[Gocka]

What a joke!

Outrage in FYROM?

First, they want to talk about upholding agreements but I thought we agreed that we are now North Macedonia, not FYROM

Second, what control does Macedonia or Greece have over the ability of a film director to make a film. Is that European "democracy", where we can only talk about what the governments allow us to?

Third, those fucking shiptari find a way to insert themselves into everything and our pathetic leaders invite them and encourage them to do so. Only shiptari could be offended by a movie that is about Greece and Macedonia.

Macedonians have not even begun to understand what type of hole they have dug for themselves in relation to the Prespa agreement. Its going to become a nearly constant occurrence that Greece complains about something or the other. Lets see how long it last before people realize they are being ruled by fiat.

[Karposh]

And this from a Greek web site:

Mocking of Christ” Triggers Outrage in both Greece and FYROM

...Digging about the truth the protagonist with a highly symbolic name of Alexander discovers the “genocide of Macedonians by the Greeks,” the film claims, according to Greek media.

The film is considered not only anti-hellenic in Greece but also triggered strong reactions in Skopje where it had its premiere in the movie theaters on Monday. Authorities tried to stop the film but the justice rejected relevant objections. The film is said to be supported by the nationalist President of the country, an opponent of the Prespes Agreement with Greece.

It is especially the scene where the protagonist is shown crucified over a map of Greece with Egnatia highway on his back and the stars of the European Union to form a halo around his head.

According to film director Jani Bojadzi “Alexander dies crucified like Jesus Christ on a billboard that advertises the European road leading from Rome to the West to Istanbul in the East, splitting Macedonia in two.”

...The film has been featured by Greek media as “nationalistic and irredentist propaganda,” and as “provocative anti-Greek.”

“As if it is not enough that they mock Christ by showing the protagonist being crucified on the map of Greece and they also show Macedonia divided into two,” writes daily TA NEA.

Some Greek media go so far to write “they want to crucify Greece and the Greeks.”

https://www.keeptalkinggreece.com/2018/10/16/mocking-of-christ-greece-fyrom/

As for the “outrage” in FYROM...Zaev has come out in defence of the Albanians, who have been offended by the movie's portrayal of UCK terrorists. UCK have even threatened Jani Bojadzi's life over the portrayal which has prompted the movie director to make a statement to the media, saying "Macedonia's Ministry of Culture's earlier statement that the film's portrayal of UCK terrorists is an attempt to brand all Albanians as terrorists is a slide into fascism and censure. With that statement they have invited death threats and violence against me as an artist as well as violence and terror to the movie “Mocking of Christ” as a form of art" (I should note that the current Ministerial Portfolio is held by an Albanian, Asaf Ademi, who recently took over the job from Robert Alagjozovski). Getting back to Zaev, although he hasn't seen the movie, he concurs that the movie spreads “Hate Speech” against the Albanians as per the advice given to him by his advisers. He has called on the Director of the Macedonian Film Agency for a cease and desist on all activities surrounding the promotion of this movie because “that is what is expected of us now”...I'm sure he doesn't just mean the supposed “hate speech” against the Albanians but, much, much more importantly, the expectation to fulfill the Prespa Agreement obligations of not promoting the existence of Macedonians over the Greek border.

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=5RnUHFD8quM

[Risto the Great]

Has anyone seen the film 'Mocking of Christ'? If so what's your opinion of it?

Sounds interesting:

https://www.imdb.com/title/tt8483812/plotsummary?ref_=tt_ov_pl

Alexander Philipopolus, a famous journalist at a political magazine in Paris, in the days when his life is at a crossroads, his career is uncertain and his family and his marriage are being disrupted, receives a letter from his cousin Vani from Greece that his father Lazarus died in Macedonia. And everything is turning upside down! Alexander departs to his motherland Greece, goes in Athens, to investigate exactly what happened to his father, Lazarus, whom he does not even know at all. In Athens, Alexander will accidentally meet Andrea, a photojournalist who accidentally meets Alexander on the day when she violently ends her relationship with long-time mistress Nana.

He is a careful and deliberate mature man. However, the sorrow in his eyes immediately attracts Andrea. They travel together from Athens to Alexander's birthplace, a small village situated in the vicinity of the border with the neighboring state of Macedonia. Alexander returns to his homeland after more than twenty years, to find out what actually happened to his father Lazarus. He will face many truths and lies, which in that part of the world remained unresolved since the Greek Civil War in 1946. All this is suffering for Alexander, but for Andrea, the beautiful landscapes, the openness and warmth of the province and the exotic people and places she didn't even know that exist in Greece represent a motivation for her get back to her quest of lost faces and stories - her photography passion, after a long period of time. While Alexander struggles with his family and his birthplace, which is apparently divided into two groups - natives Macedonians and new-comers Greeks, Andrea enjoys the wonderful moments filled with many "lost" faces. Alexander faces the fact that his family is deeply divided and with deteriorated relations. His mother Maria and her family are Greeks who have come from Turkey to the village of Lazar's father, who belongs to the group of indigenous Macedonians who fought in the Second World War and the civil war in Greece on the side of the Communists who lost the war. His father Lazar, who is part of heroic tales well-known in the village (alike those for Alexander the Great), married his mother Marija despite the opposing of her family. Within only a couple of months of their marriage, at the end of the war, Lazar as a communist is forced to leave Marija who at that time is pregnant with Alexander, and departs to Russia and later situates in Yugoslavia, namely in Macedonia. Alexander grows up in Marija's family where speaking about his father Lazar is strictly forbidden. In order to protect Alexander, Marija agrees with that. In high school, Alexander receives a scholarship and leaves for Paris where he makes a career as a journalist - political analyst. In his birthplace, Alexander comes into contact with a group of anarchists who are preparing terrorist attacks in order to draw attention to the Macedonian issue in Greece. The anarchists, driven by the heroic stories of his father Lazar, expect Alexander to join them. Alexander refuses and faces a terror. This is how his tragedy begins and the end of the journey that will take him to Skopje, Macedonia, where he will truly meet his father Lazar, whom everyone thinks is dead. Andrea will capture with her camera all the lost faces and stories she encounters in Greece and Macedonia, including the personality and story of Alexander in whom she will fall in love. Andrea will give birth to Alexander's child, following his tragic death. Alexander dies crucified like Jesus Christ on a billboard that advertises the European road leading from Rome to the West to Istanbul in the East, splitting Macedonia in two.

[Liberator of Makedonija]

Has anyone seen the film 'Mocking of Christ'? If so what's your opinion of it?

It's getting a lot of attention in Australia, there are a few screenings for it.

[maco2envy]

Has anyone seen the film 'Mocking of Christ'? If so what's your opinion of it?

[Tomche Makedonche]

New Macedonian MOVIE: Исцелител (Secret Ingredient)

Part 1 of 2

https://youtu.be/PXQe7ftF6cY

Part 2 of 2

https://youtu.be/QB82rp82CfQ

[Risto the Great]

Yes, I did think of her when I said that. But who cares, she's hot. Haha

[DraganOfStip]

What I particularly like about the new season is how everyone seems to have genuinely aged. It's becoming quite epic.

Everyone except Lagertha.
Katheryn Winnick is not only a badass but also smoking hot, she's still the same great looking fox from the beginning of the series.
It's odd when I see her with Bjorn Ironside now, her son is all grown up and has kids of his own, and she hasn't aged a bit...
I'd like to believe it's her popularity with the male audience that no aging makeup is used on her currently.

[Redsun]

I would like to see the one episode again where there is a conversation about the farming tools that the Vikings had brought with them. I think it was the first Viking settlement in Northumbria, the peasants there, were discussing the style of tool and how their elders had used the same or similar style of tool, I think it was Anglo Saxons that had this discussion. I would like to know what episode it was, so I may see it again.

[Soldier of Macedon]

I don't think the show is historically accurate, but it makes for good viewing.

Some of it is accurate, some of it isn't. For example, the death of Ragnar is relatively on the mark but their timeline is somewhat off as it relates to certain events. There are also instances where there is no historical record so they take some creative liberty to fill in the blanks. That said, I like the fact that they use the Old Norse, Old English and Old French languages in the series from time to time, it lends it more authenticity.

[Risto the Great]

Vikings is a great series, just started watching the latest season. Too bad Ragnar has to die, but that's the way it went down historically. His son Ivar is the one to look out for

I don't think the show is historically accurate, but it makes for good viewing. I don't think they were always the thugs that they seem to be portrayed as.

What I particularly like about the new season is how everyone seems to have genuinely aged. It's becoming quite epic.

[Spirit]

Great great show
Bit of a history buff here as well
Vikings spread into Russia as well and there is evidence that they married into the local Slav aristocracy population as well. Therefore the ancestors of the Rus people were a mixture of Vikings and Slavic people.
The famous Varangian Guard of the Byzantine emperors were initially made up of Vikings.

[Soldier of Macedon]

I enjoyed watching the 2 seasons of "Vikings" recently.
Great to see an Aussie in Travis Fimmel as the lead actor/plunderer/bossman. He has a big future in my opinion.

It is fun watching the clash of cultures and religions. The fight scenes are really gritty and I am sharpening my axe as we speak.

Definitely worth a watch.

Vikings is a great series, just started watching the latest season. Too bad Ragnar has to die, but that's the way it went down historically. His son Ivar is the one to look out for, destined to become a ruthless leader. One of my favourite scenes is this:

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=ZXHTcAJstuo

Perhaps because i'm a bit of a history buff, I have always found that scene interesting. Historically, both the Vikings and the Saxons came from northern Europe and both spoke Germanic languages. However, when something like the above scene did happen in real life (as it surely did centuries ago), even though both sides would have noticed some similarities it is doubtful that either side would have immediately realised that they had so many commonalities from a historical perspective. One of the main reasons for this is that the Saxons had progressively become Christians starting from a couple of centuries prior to their first contact with the Vikings, and therefore lived in a somewhat more orderly society, whereas the Vikings were still pagans who were more accustomed to pillage and warfare. Some parallels could be drawn with the 6th century Balkans, where pagan people north of the Roman frontier on the Danube moved south and were confronted with historically related groups that had earlier become Christian and more civilised.

[Risto the Great]

Good to know. This is the time of year to take in this kind of stuff.

I am about to start watching the Penny Dreadful TV show. Hope it numbs the brain in a good way.