The world inhabited by the characters of Digger might as well be an alien planet. We know, academically, that the action here takes place in northern Greece as a small community is overtaken by a bloodsucking mining monopoly. None of this drama, however, occurs outside the immediate region. It is all that this small handful of characters know, and so for 90 minutes or so, we are transported into their homes, their states of mind and their fight for freedom and for land. Director Georgis Grigorakis has staged what is unmistakably a Western, resettled to a harsh Greek landscape and populated by motorbikes and four-wheelers instead of horses and old trucks.
The influences are fairly clear, and even though nothing in the movie turns toward dusty violence in a desert setting, the interpersonal conflicts are entirely within the masculine energy and the traditional world views of its characters. On one side is Nikitas (Vangelis Mourikis, in a good performance of weary determination). His isolated, mountain-side farmland is one of various tracts under pressure from the might-as-well-be-faceless corporation looking to despoil the land and build a massive mining center. Nikitas isn’t budging, and even convinces the legal system in this small town to issue a restraining order until such a time as he deems it necessary to move.
We know very quickly, though, that such a time is never coming for Nikitas, whose son Johnny (Argyris Pandazaras) arrives just as the situation with the corporation heats up exponentially. Johnny considers the company a minor irritation, and seeing as he will inherit his dad’s farmland when the old man dies, he’d just as well take over the negotiating process in order to speed things along. After all, Johnny has debts, in no small part thanks to dad, who has owed his son money for as long as he has been an adult—or even longer. The troubles have already piled up for Nikitas, and now Johnny brings news of his mother’s death.
In addition to the farmland, Johnny is demanding half of his inheritance now, instead of waiting for his father’s death. But dad needs that money to continue his fight with the corporation looking to ruin the remaining days of his miserable existence. Johnny, meanwhile, finds a spark of love and optimism in Mary (Sofia Kokkali), a local barmaid with whom he shares an immediate and lasting connection. Unfortunately for Grigorakis, who also wrote the screenplay, this romance takes the backseat to the more pressing issue between the mining company and local residents.
The final act sees Nikitas take a stand of sorts, leading to a rendezvous with fate and a reminder of mortality. Again, there is no gunplay here, but the showdown leads directly to a final 10 minutes involving a construction digger, a boldly-executed stunt on the part of one character who has found himself chest-deep in trouble. A lyrical final scene earns this film’s fascinating tightrope of blunt, unsubtle sociopolitical commentary and character study. Digger is an unassuming winner.
Photo courtesy of Strand Releasing
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