The highly anticipated film “Iparxo” (I Exist) featuring the life of Greek legendary singer Stelios Kazantzidis that hit movie theaters across Greece in December, has already become a smashing box office success.
Reminiscent of Greece’s golden era of Greek cinema in the 1950s and 1960s, when Greeks flocked to theaters by the thousands to watch their favorite Greek actors on screen, “Iparxo” already set a ticket record in the first four days of its release, selling 117,703 tickets. The film appears on the top five of the highest-grossing film releases this year, followed by “Deadpool and Wolverine” and “The Minds You Carry 2.”
Within its first week in theaters, “Iparxo” sold almost 195,000 tickets while on the second day of Christmas alone, a public holiday in Greece, it sold almost 50,000 tickets, totaling almost 245,000 tickets in just eight days. According to movie critics, “Iparxo” could easily surpass one million tickets.
Greeks have been lining up outside movie theaters to watch the film on the life and career of their beloved Greek singer, who over two decades after his death, remains a favorite among a vast number of Greeks. Moreover, Kazantzidis’ songs are still fanatically heard across the country. Younger generations keep discovering them through the unique texture of Kazantzidis’ voice, which managed to encompass a great range of feelings, expressing everyone, from the lovelorn man to the poor worker. It is no wonder he is one of the very few Greek singers who undoubtedly deserve the title of the “people’s singer.”
Why the film “Iparxo” on Kazantzidis’ life has been a success
Many in Greece had anticipated that the film “Iparxo” would be a box office success, not only because it is based on the life of Stelios Kazantzidis but moreover because of its cast and filming.
The biopic is directed by Greek director Giorgos Tsemperopoulos, and features Christos Mastoras, the singer of Greek popular band “Melisses,” in the role of Stelios Kazantzidis.
In the film, Kazantzidis is interviewed by a journalist in the late 1970s, where he narrates parts of his life -from his relationship with his father to his relationship with Kaiti Gray (portrayed by Klelia Renesi) and Marinella (Asimenia Voulioti), two of Greece’s most iconic singers, his absence from nightclubs and his return in singing with the album “Iparxo,” which includes his landmark song under the same name.
The film has also been critically acclaimed for its costumes, lighting and photography.
Stelios Kazantzidis: The voice of post-war, poverty-stricken Greece
Stelios Kazantzidis was the voice that contained all the pain and desires of post-war, poverty-stricken Greeks, many of whom had to migrate to make a living abroad.
Greeks could identify with him because he was singing about their hopes, their fears, their struggle to survive.
Whole generations found comfort in his voice that was so good that every word he sang sounded true.
The life of Stelios Kazantzidis
He was born on August 29, 1931 in Nea Ionia, an Athens neighborhood where many refugees from Asia Minor lived, as was his mother.
Early in childhood, he listened to the songs refugees brought with them from Asia Minor, and from those songs, he learned the singing techniques, which included intricate breathing work and a tone of lament, almost like a crying in his voice.
Growing up, Kazantzidis worked at a factory in New Ionia. One day, his boss called him and told him that he had an amazing voice and gifted him a guitar.
When not working, the young man sat at home for hours trying to learn to play songs on the guitar. One day, a passer-by heard him singing and suggested that he sing in his tavern. That is how the whole story began.
His first “professional” performance was in a tavern in Kifissia in 1950. Two years later was his first recording in the Columbia Records studio with the song by Apostolos Kaldaras “Yia Banio Pas.” It was a flop.
However, the second single he recorded, “Oi Valitses” by Giannis Papaioannou, became a great success. After that, the hits kept coming, and he started appearing in popular night clubs.
Beyond that, he began a series of successes and a continuous rise with appearances in popular folk centers. Then, he met singer Kaiti Gray and they collaborated.
The two got engaged shortly, and in 1957, they recorded the Manolis Chiotis song “Apopse Fila Me” together. It was a huge success, but the couple split up shortly afterwards.
The following eight years (1957 to 1965) were Kazantzidis’ most creative and productive. His acquaintance with superstar Greek singer Marinella in Thessaloniki evolved into a brilliant collaboration.
In 1965, while at the height of his career, Kazantzidis decided to stop singing in nightclubs.
From then on, his only contact with his adoring fans was through his records. However, due to legal problems with Minos, his record company, he stopped recording for twelve years.
In 1987, he returned to the recording studio and collaborated with top composers of the time, such as Takis Soukos, Thanassis Polykandriotis, Thodoris Kambouridis, Antonis Vardis and others. His swan song was the album Erhontai chronia dyskola in 2000.
Kazantzidis passed away on September 14, 2001 at the age of seventy after a long battle with cancer.
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