Oh how we love to hate that we like Papakaliatis' work, well, at least partially. He most definitely isn't some inventive, original, break-through mastermind. However, I think he's a clever cinema lover with good taste and charm, who knows how to pick actors (and singers apparently -wow, just wow) and what it takes to create an engaging spectacle that appeals to the vast majority of the audience (possible haters who are in fact secret watchers included):
- A catchy story. A mixture of love -always forbidden, relevant/trendy social/political issues, lots of drama and a dose of humor to lighten things up.
- Beauty. From the astonishing female lead to the wonderful cinematography and meticulously chosen music, everybody and everything are beautiful, super clean and tidy, extremely detail oriented.
But apart from these elements that tick Papakaliatis' boxes and most importantly, Maestro offers top notch acting. Natural, simple and truthful acting, that makes you forget his occasional beloved weaknesses: the copied scenes/dialogues from other movies/series, the cringey lines, his favorite Woody Allenish monologues and dialogues, the stereotypes, the politically correct preaching, criticizing capitalism from a capitalistic point of view like talking to a 5 yo (no hints or meaningful scenes, just spoon fed ideology) and the fact that he cannot resist keeping the male leading role (always portraying the moody, nice, romantic, charismatic guy that all women fall for) for himself. I must say though, I found him to be much more mature and relaxed here, acting and directing wise. Bottom-line, I enjoyed Maestro. It's well deserved being on Netflix, it's a huge success and well done to everybody.
