If you liked The Spanish inn, Russian dolls et Chinese puzzlethe films of Cédric Klapisch which tell the adventures of Xavier and his friends across Europe, you will love Greek saladthe spin-off series just released on Prime Video.
This time around, Xavier and Wendy’s children, Tom and Mia, are the heroes of this comedy-drama set mainly in Athens.
Here are 5 good reasons to dive into this flavorful Greek salad. One of the French series not to be missed on Prime Video.
For its talented international cast
Greek salad brings together a colorful cast, made up of actors from different countries and different generations. The main actors, Aliocha Schneider (Tom) and Megan Northam (Mia) form a touching and complicit brother/sister duo. Very different, they each follow an apparently opposite path, before life brings them together.
These two protagonists are surrounded by young actors from all over the world, some of whom are doing well. We think for example of Pippo (Kostas Nikouli), the Italian roommate always quick to make his entourage laugh or Kristos (Dimitris Kitsos), leader of a multi-faceted NGO and character.
To discover Athens, the real one (not the postcard one)
Greek salad is also an invitation to travel and discover Greece. But not that of postcards, the real Greece.
The series immerses us in the heart of Athens, symbol of a country which has suffered greatly from the financial crisis and finds itself on the front line facing the arrival of migrants. More than its historical monuments, these are its popular districts, its nightlife, its disillusioned population and its ruined buildings that Cédric Klapisch makes us discover. The director shows us the social reality of the country, marked by unemployment, corruption and violence.
But it also reveals to us the resistance and creativity of the Greeks, who invented new forms of solidarity and democracy. All without forgetting the cultural markers of this beautiful country: music, gastronomy, philosophy, among others.
For the topics dealt with (ecology, immigration, sexuality, identity, etc.)
Greek salad thus stages generation Z, those born after 1995, who grew up with social networks, the economic crisis and global warming.
Unlike their parents who dreamed of Erasmus and an international career, Tom and Mia face bigger problemssuch as the rise of nationalism, precariousness, the question of migrants, ecological issues.
Faced with the realities of their threatened world, these young people from all over the world do not give up: they engage in causes that are close to their hearts (such as ecology, feminism or aid to refugees) and demonstrate unfailing solidarity. The series also tackles the themes of sexuality and identity.
Watch Greek Salad on Prime Video
For the realization “à la Klapisch”
Greek salad benefits from a quality production, signed Cédric Klapisch for the first episode and Lola Doillon for the following ones. The two filmmakers were able to capture the atmosphere and the light of Athens, using wide shots, bright colors, fluid camera movements.
They also knew how to create a sound atmosphere that mixes the sounds of the city, dialogues in several languages, traditional and modern Greek music.
The series thus immerses us in the daily life of the characters, with their joys, their sorrows, their hopes and their doubts. We finally find the markers of an achievement specific to Cédric Klapisch, in particular the famous split screens that we already found in theSpanish hotel.
For everything we love about “The Spanish Inn” (and the trilogy)
Greek salad is a series that is a continuation of Cédric Klapisch’s films, but which also offers an original and current vision of Europe. We find with pleasure certain emblematic characters of the trilogy, such as Xavier (Romain Duris), Wendy (Kelly Reilly) or Isabelle (Cécile de France), who have aged but have not lost their humor or their sensitivity. The Christmas dinner episode is a Proust madeleine for those who have discovered The Spanish inn 20 years ago.
The series skillfully mixes comedy and drama, lightness and depth, humor and emotion. All the ingredients that had made the success of L’Spanish hotelreleased in 2003. Already.
