The Blossoming of Maximos Oliveros
Fantastic movie. The slightly hazy picture quality and lower budget only serve to emphasize what's important - heart and soul, because this is a film that has that. Perhaps because Maximos lives unabashedly, he is accepted by most. It is his childlike candour that is his greatest protection, his willingness to be and accept who he is. He is earnestly effeminate, and every response is real.So he becomes a bearer of truth in a ghetto society run on deceit and dishonesty. The love for his family is genuine and requited as he assumes the surrogate sister / mother role. His friendship with the cop begs the question - how do we live? Both are apparently 'good' or 'pure', but the cop lives for a cause and with an ambition, whereas Maximos simply lives - spontaneously and boldly. Luminescent!