About Brutalia, Days of Labour

Virtuosity seems to be the key word of Brutalia, Days of Labour, in which every meticulously crafted frame is a metaphorical reference to the stern structure of the mircrocosm it is supposedly studying. With cold obstinacy and irony never seeking to conceal its maliciously entomological discourse, Manolis Mavris describes a group of dehumanised and interchangeable individuals in the grip of endemic institutional violence. He deepens Greek cinema’s taste for instilling strangeness and unrest, between fascination and repulsion, denying the audience a conveniently pleasant story. Beyond satire, the allegorical tale morphs into a genuine universe of a film, with manifold lasting echoes.