“A Blast,” director Syllas Tzoumerkas’ second feature, takes the audience on an emotional journey with Maria (Angeliki Papoulia) as she prepares to “blast” into a new life. Maria starts off her adult life on the right note: She gets accepted into her dream university and meets the man of her dreams. However, all those ambitions quickly come tumbling down as the circumstances she finds herself leave her without control.
Through the flashbacks, we witness Maria forgo her dreams of education to take care of the family store that can no longer be run by her wheelchair-bound mother. Her father is more like a shadow who stands as a witness to the destruction of the family. Her sister Gogo (Maria Filini) gets married to an abusive Costas (Makis Papadimitriou), who only brings more negativity into the already-broken family. And it all falls onto Maria’s shoulders to keep it together, and it becomes more and more difficult as their country’s situation deteriorates with them.
Maria’s personal life has also been hit. The relationship with her husband, Yannis, (Vassilis Doganis) was all about sex and passion when they first started. Their love burned bright until Yannis started working out at sea for long periods of time, leaving Maria alone to take care of their three kids.
The main heroine finds herself at a dead-end in a gridlock of lies, hatred and despair like everyone else in Greece. However, instead of trying to cope with the new conditions of her life, Maria is looking for a way out.
Papoulia portrays Maria with the utmost sincerity. You can see how deeply she dives into her character and brings out the raw emotions that Maria is going through. Her performance is a highlight of the film, as she manages to make the audience sympathize with the woman who pushes away everyone she loves to be happy.
There are some lighter and even comedic scenes in the story to make the journey a bit easier for the viewers. And, depending on how you perceive her decisions, one can say that the story has a happy ending as Maria, finally, finds her way out to find her happiness.
Overall, the film is an emotional power trip that will either make the audience hate or root for the main heroine. The trip is worth the ride for those who love a good character-driven drama in which a complete destruction comes first before a long-awaited revelation.
“A Blast” will screen on Thursday, June 4, at 8:30 p.m. and again on Saturday, June 6, at noon. For ticket information, visit www.siff.net.