Sundance 2018: Pity REVIEW – A Gem Of A Foreign Film

Pity is a dark comedy that becomes even funnier in its delivery thanks to a deadpan performance from Yannis Drakopoulos.

It tells the story of a man who has an addiction to being sad and wants to evoke pity from other people. It’s not the right way for anyone in the right mind to live, but that’s what’s going on for an unnamed attorney (Yannis Drakopoulos). His wife is in a coma and suffering from breast cancer.

Babis Makridis directs the film from a screenplay co-written with Efthimis Filippou. Filippou also co-wrote screenplays of The Lobster and last year’s The Killing of a Sacred Deer. It’s a different film from the two predecessors and gives off a different kind of vibe. It’s a screenplay that makes the best use of Yannis Drakopoulos’ deadpan performance.

Between Rock Steady Row and Pity, there’s looking like a trend of lead characters with no names attached. It will certainly be interesting to see if the trend holds in 2018 after 2017 saw multiple films set during World War 2 England, had Wonder or Between in their title, and a number of John Denver or David Bowie songs.

Oh, Pity has a cute dog. No film in history can ever go wrong with having a cute dog, can they? The dog in the film steals every scene that she’s in for the 97 minute running time.

There’ll be no pity wasted on anyone who doesn’t see this gem of a foreign film.

The film stars Yannis Drakopoulos, Evi Saoulidou, Nota Tserniafski, Makis Papadimitriou, Georgina Chryskioti, Evdoxia Androulidaki.

An official selection of the 2018 Sundance Film Festival, Pity is a selection of the World Cinema Dramatic Competition program.