Fotini Peluso and Andreas Konstantinou star in ERT’s international co-production The Great Chimera, a TV adaptation of the eponymous Greek novel of the 1930s. Credit: Courtesy of ERT
A highly anticipated international mini series co-production of Greek public broadcaster ERT is breaking viewing records in Greece.
The eponymous TV adaptation of M. Karagatsis’s 1936 iconic novel The Great Chimera premiered on ERT’s streamer ERTFLIX on New Year’s Day with the first two episodes and reached one million views within one week, while it also became a trending topic and sparked controversy on social media for its bold intimate scenes.
New episodes will air on ERT’s prime time Sundays at 10pm local time, and be available on ERTFLIX one day earlier.
High standards international co-production
Produced by Stelios Kotionis and directed by Vardis Marinakis on an adapted screenplay by Panagiotis Iosifelis, The Great Chimera is advertised as one of the greatest TV productions that has been filmed in Greece.
Bilingual Greek Italian, featuring a seasoned cast from both countries, the series tells the story of a young Italian woman (French in the original novel), who falls madly in love with a Greek sea-captain, marries him, and moves with him to the thriving Aegean island of Syros, “throwing herself into a vortex of passion, emancipation and self-destruction.”
A big part of The Great Chimera was shot on the Greek island of Syros and its majestic capital, Ermoupolis. Credit: Courtesy of ERT
The 6-hour period drama was shot at emblematic locations; Athens’ historical city center, Syros island’s majestic capital of Ermoupolis, the Greek islands of Mykonos, Delos, and Rineia, and Italy’s port city of Trieste.
The starring couple is played by up-and-coming Greek Italian actress Fotini Peluso and Greek actor Andreas Konstantinou, known for his roles in critically acclaimed Greek films and popular TV series.
Renowned Greek actress Karyofillia Karabeti co-stars as the mother-in-law unwilling to accept a “xeni” (foreign) bride.
Acclaimed Greek actress Karyofillia Karabeti co-stars The Great Chimera. Credit: Courtesy of ERT
The Great Chimera TV series trending in Greece
The six-part series is a production of Athens-based FOSS PRODUCTIONS with support from the Hellenic Film and Audiovisual Center (ΕΚΚΟΜΕΔ) in co-production with German distributor Beta Film, its Italian subsidiary Mompracem and Greece’s Boo Productions.
The Hellenic Broadcast Corporation, ERT, is also co-producing, and releasing the series in Greece.
ERT Chairman Giannis Papadopoulos stressed at The Great Chimera avant-premiere that the series constitutes a milestone, turning a new page in Greek fiction production, as well as marking a new era for the Greek public broadcaster, which is adopting a strategic orientation towards international co-productions of the highest standards.
However, it wasn’t only the high production standards and all-star cast that made The Great Chimera the talk of the town and a trending topic as soon as it premiered; the bold intimate scenes between the starring couple -viewed by an audience that recent TV history has shown can be as easily shocked by an on-screen gay kiss- sparked controversy and debate about their purposefulness.
Defenders have maintained that the bold scenes are an integral part of the story and focal in understanding character dynamics, while critics felt they were just intended to provoke.
What remains undisputable is that the audiovisual interpretation of a novel that was published almost a century ago under a nom de plume and went on to become a literature classic, with its strong feminist narrative and powerful dramaturgical traits of ancient Greek tragedy, has modern-day audiences in Greece hooked – and potentially a long way of success ahead in international TV markets.