The Red Lanterns (1963) aka (Ta kokkina fanaria - Τα κόκκινα φανάρια) Greek Noir

BOTH A BEAUTIFUL DRAMA AND CHRISTMAS NOIR,          A LOW BUDGET GEM.

The overall majority of Film Noir had male protagonists. Doing my own highly unscientific survey, i.e., a quick flip through Spencer Selby's Dark City - The Film Noir, I identified approximately 60 out of a list of 347 titles I've seen of the 490 titles in the book, that had female protagonists.  That's only 17% of Classic Film Noir with major female protagonists/antagonists, either represented by various bad  "femme fatales" or on the "good" side by caring housewives, girlfriends, or coworkers.

In America, Crime Noirs dominated Classic Film Noir, and since most violent crime was done by men, most Noirs are male oriented. Women were realistically percentage-wise more involved with theft, bunco, vice and various crimes of the heart.

Since the Motion Picture Production Code severely restricted the negative ways women could be realistically depicted we got a very skewed male, impression of the dark side.

There also wasn't much of what we are defining now as, American "gun culture," in most of Europe. It's mostly the UK Noirs that, I find, are similar to our American Classic Film Noir. With the Crime and Policier dominating. Once you get on the continent the darker side of human dramas are much more involved in the Noir mix. The line between light-dark, good-bad is more nuanced. French Noir's diffuse from Crime to Drama. Italian films that tip noir for me are even more removed from the straight Crime genre and are more in the picaresque tragic-comedy vein think Seven Beauties, Nights of Cabiria, La Strada, and Il Grido,

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These are films where the protagonist commits suicide or tries to, others where wives conspire with their lovers to kill their husbands or try too, other films depict, what self appointed moralists would consider subjects that are indecent, immoral, or sacrilegious, along with other social taboos prevalent among the working class and the down and out.

So what else would you call The Red Lanterns, a Greek film depicting the tragically intertwined lives of five whores working a bordello in the old Troumba Pier red light district of Piraeus but a Noir and its shot stylistically in a noir style to boot. But it's not any noir that mainstream Hollywood studio under the censorship of the MPPC would attempt.

The closest films to The Red Lanterns that I remember that are similar were the romantic comedy Never on Sunday (1960), another Greek film directed by Noir Vet Jules Dassin  starring Melina Mercouri, the serious Walk on the Wild Side (1962) a drama, and Irma la Douce (1963) and The Cheyenne Social Club (1970) both comedies. Another serious Drama about houses of ill repute was 1978's Pretty Baby there are probably others.

The Red Lanterns also has another feature of note. There are some musical interludes that come across  at first as almost inserted musical numbers, it may be a regional quirk of Greek/Baltic movies, similar to some Mexican films I've seen. It's just an impression. I'm just guessing I'm not familiar enough with them to state for sure.

Piraeus BTW is to Athens what Brooklyn is to New York City.  It's the chief port in Greece, the largest passenger port in Europe, and the second largest passenger port in the world.

Directed by Vasilis Georgiadis, The Red Lanterns was nominated for the Academy Award for Best Foreign Language Film. Georgiadis was born in Dardanelles, Ottoman Empire. He was a director and an actor, also known for Girls in the Sun (1968), and Blood on the Land (1965). Two films that I will check out if I can find them.

The screenplay was written by Alekos Galanos  and based on his play of the same name. I attempted to find out more but there aren't any hits on an online search, at least not any in English. The cinematography was by Nikos Gardelis. The film does have a surprisingly excellent soundtrack. The  Music is credited to Stavros Xarhakos. Here is the title track "Red Lanterns – Main Titles (In Piraeus)" below.

Red Lanterns – Main Titles (In Piraeus)

The film stars Jenny (Tzeni - Tzenny) Karezi as Eleni Nicoleskou. Karezi, an Athen's native. Tzenny (below), is a dark beauty whose eyes uncannily for me anyway, remind of Anne Francis.

Tzeni Karezi as Eleni

Her character Eleni was a famous Romanian chanteuse who got deserted in Athens on a Baltic tour by her manager/boyfriend. Her only way to survive in a strange country was to start to selling her ass  as a more classy hooker. She is sort of The Aphrodite of Piraeus. Very desirable. She  is the most popular girl in the house. Her "manager" pimp Michailos is played by Giorgos Foundas (Never On Sunday). Michailos is in love with her but Eleni can't stand him. He has set her up in Red Lanterns an upscale whorehouse in Troumba. If Michailos wants her he has to pay her like all the rest.

Giorgos Foundas.as Michailos the pimp

We first see Eleni at the Tivoli Fun Park. She is with her boyfriend a nice guy named Petros played by Dimitris Papamichael. They are having a blast playing the carny games and riding the rides.

 Petros played by  Dimitris Papamichael and Eleni

Fun park

Eleni is leading a double life. In her fantasy recreation she is as far from being a hooker as she can get. Eleni basically pretends she is a virgin and Petros is her first serious beau. Petros buys this hook line and sinker. After long romantic dates she leaves poor Petros suffering from "blue balls." Petros has no idea Eleni is the most popular whore at Red Lanterns. This fantasy is Eleni's way of coping with her present life.

The juxtaposition of virgin/hooker is visually enforced by Eleni always wearing something white on her dates with Petros while always shown in black at the whorehouse.

When the time comes to end the nights date Eleni always kisses Petros and tells him to close his eyes. When he opens them she is gone from sight.

Close your eyes Petros....

Red Lanterns is run by Madam Pari, played by Despo Diamantidou (Never On Sunday), she is in a relationship also with the pimp Michailos but she is also shown to be AC/DC and she takes a shine to Myrsine (Eleni Anousaki) a sixteen year old streetwalker about to be hauled off to jail.

Madam Pari (Despo Diamantidou) and Michailos

Madam Pari and Myrsine (Eleni Anousaki) 

Mary Chronopoulou is the oldest prostitute in the house Mary Pana. She is a tough hooker with a heart of gold who makes a man of a Angelos (Phaedon Georgitsis).

Angelos comes into Red Lanterns with a buddy, Their object is to get laid for the first time. They zero in on Mary, she gets it done and Angelos falls for her like a love sick puppy dog.

rt. Angelos  (Phaedon Georgitsis)

Angelos' innocence and dead seriousness towards her melts her resistance. It sort of rekindles the flame of hope. Another life. Against her better judgment she also falls in love with Angelos. Maybe her lot in life will change.

Katerina Helmy is whore Marina. She was brought to Athens from a far away village by Doris (Kostas Kourtis) her pimp.

Pimp Doris (Kostas Kourtis) and Marina (Katerina Helmy) 

Marina likes the watch

Marina is the equivalent of a Greek hillbilly. Maybe from the highlands of Thessalia  or Macedonia.

Marina is brazen, crass, a bleach blond sea gull-ish hooker. Marina you see is addicted to shiny objects, lighters, watches, rings, etc., etc., and demands that her dates give them to her. She is madly in love with Doris.

Captain Nicholas (Manos Katrakis) and Anna Georganta (Alexandra Ladikou)

Anna Georganta (Alexandra Ladikou) is another whore. She is in love with long time client Nicholas (Manos Katrakis) who is a ship captain. She has had a child with him. He doesn't know the child exists. The boy is away at school. She has told the boy that she works for a travel agency and that that is why she is always away.

Katerina (Iro Kyriakaki) and Notis Peryalis

Additionally woven into the plot is the plight of Iro Kyriakaki. Iro is the elderly house maid and cleaning woman Katerina and Notis Peryalis is her sometimes crazy old man. He is a professional scavenger at the Piraeus dump/landfill. He is building a house at the dump out of salvaged junk for himself and Katerina.  It's like a bonus off the wall sidebar, think of say a Greek Gravel Gertie and her husband B.O. Plenty.

Everything goes Noirsville at the Red Lantern's wild Christmas Eve party.

Noirsville

Eleni, wearing white ,coming back from a date

at the dump

  

  

Jenny (Tzeni - Tzenny) Karezi is mesmerizing. She's a classic beauty. She and the girls are very convincing as whores. The individual tales are compelling. The other players are equally effective. The sequences between Kyriakaki and Peryalis are very touching. There are some on location sequences but the majority of the film in the Troumba red light district is a set. The screencaps are from an online streamer. In Greek and English (quite a few of the sailors are US Navy) with English subtitles. 8/10