(THIS ARTICLE IS MACHINE TRANSLATED by Google from Norwegian)
Urania is the daughter of party leader Nikolaos Michaloliakos, and Jenny and Dafne are the wife and mother of Golden Dawn MPs Giorgos Germenis and Panayiotis Iliopoulos, respectively. The men are in jail when the recording takes place, with charges that include murder and organized crime. The camera follows the women as they try to handle the situation and at the same time make sure that the party moves forward in the upcoming elections.
Normal people? The film is stronger than it may seem at first, and gives a strong aftertaste. In trying to find humanity in the lives of these women, the film instead shows that even those who promote hatred in society can have a very human face.
"They've said they want to make a movie that shows we're normal people," Jenny says at the start, assuring everyone in the party's headquarters that the camera aimed at them poses no danger. The way they are portrayed in the media is almost an obsession for them, and being seen as human seems to be a goal of the Golden Dawn party in general. Angelique Kourounis' documentary from 2016, Golden Dawn: A Personal Affair contains a scene where one in the party leadership forgets that the camera is on and explains to the other members that when they are near reporters, they should be careful to avoid the terminology they usually use when talking. When someone asks why they should agree to be filmed at all, he replies that "The party wants people like her to show that we're not screwed."
The Golden Dawn Party has 18 representatives in the Greek National Assembly.
Scrolls with Parliament seats. "Curly" is a mild word for what the party stands for and how the members behave. Nazi symbols, flags, tattoos and aggressive poses are all visual characteristics of Golden Dawn. Their parade marches seem daunting. They walk with flags and torches while shouting slogans with barking voices. Despite the fact that the party rejects the neo-Nazi stamp, Gyllent Daggry has everything that characterizes a Nazi group with a military-like structure and lots of hatred that stimulates their activities. Members say no to both liberalism and socialism, and advocate nationalism as the only authentic revolution; they believe in racial superiority and a kind of romantic idea that today's Greeks are direct descendants of those who inhabited ancient Greece – a civilization they idealize.
The party has not always been successful, but managed to take advantage of the coincidence of Greece's economic crisis, unemployment and the arrival of an unprecedented number of refugees and immigrants. Support for the party grew from 0,2 percent of the vote to 18 members of parliament.
Golden Dawn brings together the disillusioned and the disappointed, the angry and the unemployed. They organize food distribution, blood donation, and create a support network – for people who have a Greek ID card. They are not driven by goodness, but by the understanding that there are opportunities in need – their power depends on support, and votes can easily be collected among the most vulnerable.
The film takes the concept of "behind the scenes" to a higher level.
Behind the scenes. There are still some glimpses of kindness in Jenny's eyes. There is affection between all three, and between them and their family members. There is also a glimpse of kindness in Urania when she takes care of a puppy and talks about her love for animals. Throughout the film, these moments open up the possibility that this may be the true nature of these women, and that things will take an unexpected turn – that their xenophobia will change and become love. But then no.
The film takes the concept of "behind the scenes" to a higher level. Looking behind the women's public appearances could give the viewer a glimpse of who they are, but it seems they never take off their masks. So Bustnes expands the frame – and seizes the moments when they do not know he is recording – in a search for authentic moments and expressions, even in the most common situations.
But instead of revealing something true, the women hide behind the meaning of the words – as if behaving like a Nazi and then denying that you are, makes everything okay. They turn out to be heavy-handed, defiant and without the need to apologize, and the earlier glimpses of humanity soon join the spectrum of the grotesque.
Impossible to understand. Towards the end, there is no bond between the spectator and the women on the screen. The search for their humanity has failed, and what remains is that it is impossible to understand who they really are. They can not be called "normal people", simply because they can not be vulnerable and genuine. And possibly the expectation that they should be vulnerable and real is completely wrong, and the assumption that there is something to understand and a way to relate to them failed from the start. In the world of Golden Dawn, no one seeks meaning and vulnerability. If you have questions, it's because you ask them questions. And that's also wrong, because they're not here to explain.
The film will be shown this month on IDFA in Amsterdam,
the world's largest documentary film festival.
