Peppermint (1999)
Kostas Kapakas makes a strikingly assured debut with this immaculately wrought coming-of-age drama. The film centers on Stefanos (Georges Corraface), a serious-minded middle-aged aircraft engineer who is invited to a soiree with his old friend Manolis (Haris Mavroulis).
Along the way, Stefanos' mind goes back to his youth during the early 1960s, when he lived in a large house with his bourgeois parents and aunt. Between such childhood dramas as losing a tooth and getting a first glimpse of a pornographic magazine, the young Stefanos befriends his same-aged cousin Marina.
When the parents go on a holiday retreat, Stefanos and Marina kiss in the rain. Six years later, Stefanos plans to study in England while Marina cuddles with his best friend Manolis. At a party, Marina and Stefanos briefly get it on, before she stops and rejoins the party. This film earned rave reviews at the 1999 Thessaloniki Film Festival.
