Do you know how there are these selected few series, movies etc that are way beyond their time, so you could watch them whenever and they still do not feel "passe"? Well, this one is definitely not it.
Now what we have here is a dramatic series from the early 90's, based on a novel that takes place in the 70's. In other words, a retro series that even at its time was trying to be retro. As the story follows the lives of the members of a "rich and famous" family in the 70's, the soap factor is prominent. There is a "villain" with a master plan, there are quite a few "tortured" characters, a who-slept-with-whom factor, quite a few "forbidden" or "unconventional" love stories, hell there is even the story of a 18 year old priest that has run away from a convent, after having been sexually abused. On top of that, add the "political commentary" factor, as the whole thing takes place at a time when Greece was under a dictatorship. The dialogues, the acting, even the directing are kind of "soapy" too (some might say that one or two of the main actors cannot act that well anyway, but it seems that in the given context their performances are sufficient), plus when seeing this series now, 19 years later, one can easily find flaws with the production and photography (I mean, at times even the zooming in and out can be a bit sketchy). Thing is, many of these flaws did not really go noticed in the early 90's - after all, "for a Greek TV show", this was actually considered to be a good one at the time. And it was a huge hit too.
What makes this series a cult classic, is that it is so soapy and so "ambitious" at the same tame. This is not a "self-concious" soap opera, (after all, at the time soap opera was not even really a genre, well not in Greece anyway), this is an aspiring dramatic series, that is definitely trying to be "deep","meaningful", atmospheric, genuinely moving, and in part it may even be. it definitely has a beautiful original soundtrack too, plus many good, well known actors took their first steps by playing some small part there. But, truth be told, there is also a fair amount of non-intended comedic value that cannot be ignored. So if you 're feeling nostalgic and looking for the "naivete" of a project that was made at a (and for a) time when things were a lot simpler, I say watch it.
