Strella (2008)

79% of users liked it
(274 ratings)

A man struggling to start his life over finds love under unexpected circumstances in this stylized drama from Greek director Panos Koutras. After serving fourteen years in prison, Yiorgos (Yiannis Kokiasmenos) is released and makes his to Athens, where he hopes to find the son he hasn't heard from… More A man struggling to start his life over finds love under unexpected circumstances in this stylized drama from Greek director Panos Koutras. After serving fourteen years in prison, Yiorgos (Yiannis Kokiasmenos) is released and makes his to Athens, where he hopes to find the son he hasn't heard from in years. Checking into a cheap hotel, Yiorgos meets a woman named Strella (Mina Orfanou), who makes her living as a prostitute. Yiorgos and Strella end up spending the night together, and when he wakes up Yiorgos is confident he's found the woman of his dreams -- and isn't at all troubled by the fact Strella is a transsexual. With Strella by his side, Yiorgos feels confident he can mend his broken relationship with his son and make a fresh start, but it isn't long before he's confronted with a burden from his past he may not be able to shake. Strella (aka A Woman's Way) was an official selection at the 2009 Berlin International Film Festival. ~ Mark Deming, Rovi

Rating, Runtime: Unrated, 1 hr. 53 min.
Directed By: Panos H. Koutras
Written By: Panajotis Evangelidis, Panos H. Koutras
Genres: Art House & International, Drama

In Theaters: Nov 25, 2009 Wide

Critic Reviews

Fr. Chris Carpenter, Movie Dearest
This provocative drama-comedy weaves elements from traditional Greek tragedies and myths through a decidedly modern story...Well-structured and -layered.

Critic ratings and reviews powered by RottenTomatoes.com

Fresh (60% or more critics rated the movie positively)

Rotten (59% or fewer critics rated the movie positively)

Featured Audience Ratings

Anastasia B

Strella is everything a cinephile would want and more. Koutras lets Neil Jordan and his "Crying Game" bite the dust with this curious underground gem of his. The HUGE Oedipal complex that explodes in the middle of the film like a caleidoscope, under the lights of which one… More
Strella is everything a cinephile would want and more. Koutras lets Neil Jordan and his "Crying Game" bite the dust with this curious underground gem of his. The HUGE Oedipal complex that explodes in the middle of the film like a caleidoscope, under the lights of which one of the most daring erotic scenes in the Greek Cinema evolves, leaves the audience gasping as they swiftly consider the obvious ramifications. Strella is despite its gay theme a film you'd like to watch: because it is honest, daring, and ... because it has a script that is good enough and humaine enough to keep you satisfied. Compared to the standard commercial movies you watch, Strella is years of light ahead. Compared to "Kynodontas" (Dogtooth) another Greek film for the cinephile audience, "Strella" is simply Oscar material...
Dimitris S

A masculine movie in spite of the exceptional twist somewhere in the middle,Koutras is evolving,leaving behind aliens and bourgeois salons,there's simply a bohemian state of free-spirited individuals (with a fine sense of rhythm in the frame by frame observance of the social… More
A masculine movie in spite of the exceptional twist somewhere in the middle,Koutras is evolving,leaving behind aliens and bourgeois salons,there's simply a bohemian state of free-spirited individuals (with a fine sense of rhythm in the frame by frame observance of the social status) alongside the neglect for but also the casualty of "strange" people. Orfanou playing the titular transsexual sparkles in her debut and Kokiasmenos presents a stiffed ex-inmate,beginning a chain reaction stretching to a (curiously enough) panegyric finale.

Cast

See full cast

Strella (2008)

Critic Reviews

Featured Audience Ratings

Anastasia B

Dimitris S

Cast