Although this is the first feature from the Tsonis–Spanos duo behind Ficino Films, you wouldn’t know it. It hits all the right notes. Brando tells the story of two brothers who grew up on struggle street in Athens but dream of brighter days. Luca dreams of moving to New York and walking in step with greats like Marlon Brando. His younger brother, Alekos, dreams of opening a wine bar. When Luca is offered a coveted audition at a New York acting school but can’t afford the ticket, the brothers decide to commit an armed robbery. What could go wrong?

Quite a bit, as it turns out. Tsonis gives us a modern Greek tragedy. Amateur thief Luca misfires his gun and shoots an innocent bystander – a young man named Ilias. The brothers panic and attempt to return to normal life, but struggle under the crushing weight of guilt. Luca tries to alleviate his conscience by striking up a friendship with the grievously wounded Ilias.

Strangled by anxiety and fear – soothed only by cigarettes – Luca begins visiting Ilias in hospital. He flirts with fate, and the two young men develop an intimate yet conflicted bond. Separated by class, their shared love of art – music for Ilias, acting for Luca – draws them closer. A lonely Ilias welcomes Luca’s invitation into his world, sharing family secrets and melancholic despair, buoyed by Luca’s passion. Luca, meanwhile, reveals his world but very little of his true self. He keeps his cards close to his chest.

We walk alongside Luca as he desperately tries to wrangle life to fit his dreams. He seizes Athens by the throat – shouting his own lines to balconies, commanding traffic like a conductor without hands, dressing like a bloated theatre-goer, crowing like a vulture over his neighbourhood, provoking police with reckless intent. Every act becomes a performance. Every moment risks collapse. Athens is his stage — and no one has the script.

Tsonis captures an Athens seldom glimpsed by outsiders – balancing grit and elegance in equal measure, with cinematographer Joerg Gruber’s intuitive handheld camerawork shaping the film’s raw and lyrical movement through the city. Into this visual tapestry, English and Greek are woven seamlessly.

Tsonis collaborated closely with composer Alexandros Livitsanos to craft an original score, assembled in Melbourne and Europe, and recorded in Prague. The music fuses symphonic and cinematic classical traditions, layered with jazz trumpets. It underscores the grandeur, emotional arcs, and mythic scale of the film – it’s a work of art in itself.

Tsonis dances across genres, tying them together through Luca. Drama, tragedy, satire, comedy, and cringe all find a home. What unites them is Tsonis’ determination to marry the mundane with the mythical. In one scene, Luca and a friend sit topless in front of sun lamps in a dark room – an image evocative of the myth of Icarus. Icarus escapes captivity on wings made of feathers and wax, but overcome by hubris, flies too close to the sun. His wings melt and he plummets to his death. It’s a lesson Luca might well learn.

The temperature of Tsonis’ direction runs hot. He gives his actors enough guidance to shape his vision, while allowing them the freedom to fully inhabit their roles. It’s a true collaboration. Yiannis Niarros gives an extraordinary performance as Luca, embodying the role and pushing himself to the limit. Tsonis’ decision to cast ex-convicts instead of professional actors in the prison scenes reveals the influence of Italian neorealism. Luca stabbing a butcher’s carcass is a method-acting deep cut – a nod to Robert De Niro’s preparation for Scorsese’s Goodfellas. Reportedly unsatisfied with Joe Pesci’s stabbing technique, De Niro told him to practice on meat. Brando with a Glass Eye is, among many things, a love letter to actors.

It’s no wonder Brando has impressed critics and swept nominations and awards. The film was officially selected by more than 25 international festivals across Europe and the US. It made history as the first Greek language film to have its World Premiere in the Narrative Features Official Selection category at the 2024 Slamdance Film Festival in America and won Best Film at the 2024 New Renaissance Film Festival in London, known for bold and daring films. It was also a hit at New York University’s Tisch School of the Arts, where Scorsese himself once taught. The Weird Wave Archive, produced by Marina Hassapopoulou, Assistant Professor of Cinema Studies at Tisch, dedicated an entire special issue to the film – the first time it had done so for any work. The film’s closing monologue is so powerful it has been mistaken for a lost piece of Tennessee Williams – but Tsonis wrote it.

If all this richness sounds intimidating, it isn’t. Tsonis does the heavy lifting. We just sit back and enjoy the show.

Brando with a Glass Eye is screening now at Gala Twin Warrawong, on 23 July at Lido Cinemas in Melbourne, 27 and 30 July at Star Court Theatre in Lismore, and 3 August at HOTA on the Gold Coast

source: filmink.com.au / photo: Ficino Films