Blackmail Boy (2005)

Instant Favorite.

Amateur movie with Big budget

There are moments that feel comical, some horrific, and some downright inspiring but the tonal shifts hardly matter as the end results come to a film that's perfect for this time.

Worth seeing just to witness how winsome it is.

Blackmail Boy (Oxygono) is an eccentric piece of art. to the viewer that is used to American blockbusters and mainstream movies it might not appeal, but for someone looking for more original and special film it will be an apocalypse. very true in depicting the characters of a Greek small town it manages to unfold an uncommon story that somehow manages to seem familiar. the story might not be the most common one, and in an almodovaresque way the situations depicted are obviously somewhat curious. however the characters, their actions and reactions, with their poetic realism couldn't be closer to real life. every single scene manages to make its point and to add to the strange yet captivating and full of secrets story. nobody is being judged, nobody is being praised, the persons are simply being observed as they eagerly embark on their journey towards nothing.

This is the first modern Greek film I have scene. (the other took place during ancient history times.The setting is in a suburb of Athens,, This is a story about a very dysfunctional family, that could be set in any suburb of any city anywhere.SPOILER ALERTIt starts with a tragedy & subsequently there is an eventual tragedy near the last scene as well. Without sounding facetious, The Greeks are masters of & at tragedies.. PLease do not get me wrong, this film is good BUT can never be considered an equal of the great tragedies of the past OXYGONO (Oxygen) is pure soap opera, It could compare with Dallas or Knots Landing, it is that good & interesting.The American DVD title is Blackmail Boy, OH yes there is an element of blackmail wish of course is a cause of the last tragedy. The boy is a handsome Greek God type (early 20's), who was a victim of the first tragedy. The lad is sex-personified & is not particular in regard to the sex of his bed-mates. (they are all older than he).THere are vital & vibrant women as well in the cast, portraying his mother,a sister an Aunt & a girl friend. There are also also 2 dominant male roles besides this lad, his sexy brother-in law & a friend of his & other members of the family.They all argue,fight, make love like any other dysfunctional or even regular families.I liked all these people to some degree, NO one was real nasty or downright ugly mean. There are fights & a few get beaten up roughly, there is a scary nightmare scene of near drowning & OH yes there is sex of ALL kinds,including a male rape scene. I mentioned our young hero is bi-sexual,did n't I. It is one of the discussion a few have, his & another's sexuality is taken naturally & as a normal event of lifeI highly recommend this film I got it thru NETFLIX, It should be available in video stores that have many foreign movies.Ratings ***1/2 (out of 4) 90 points (out of 100) IMDb 8 (out of 10)I was planning on a 3 star rating, BUT in writing above it's a borderline ***1/2

Well as a Greek civilian i saw in that movie the real Greek culture ... Sex , violence , blackmail is everything what a modern audience can ask from a movie!!!When i saw that black comedy i thought of Pedro Almodovar . To tell the truth , Reppas and Papathanasiou never reached Almodovar's abilities but i think they made a good start . The plot of Blackmail Boy ( a.k.a. Oxygono (GR) ) was amazing , it was quite good directed and the actors played also good in the film especially Yannis Tsimitselis and the 'Greek God' Alexandros Georgoulis. I got surprised when i saw the criticism of the film and the only thing i have to say is : Everyone who prefers European cinema MUST SEE THAT MOVIE. Thank you fellas

This movie is one of the worst movies I've ever seen (And I'm not a difficult viewer). About half or more of the movie was filled with unnecessary scenes of sex, violence, mind sickness, that were not telling anything to the viewer, except the will of the director/writer to make something that socks.There are better ways to sock and say something at the same time... Maybe I didn't get the point but as an example the sexual relationship between the mother and her daughters husband didn't make any sense to the whole movie (I wonder what it could be different if it didn't exist). Also the continuous (over than 10 scenes) forcing of the young boy to his lover to make love, was most of the times unnesessary. My final filling was that I saw a movie that could be based to a 1,000 words story.