Edgar Soberon Torchia Don't let the ugly poster of "The Small Fish" (aka "Stratos") fool you. It is an intense and dramatic portrait of contemporary Greece, seen through the eyes of Stratos, a contract killer who works during the day in a bakery, where he silently and passively witnesses the exploitation of workers. His life acquires another meaning when he is behind his car wheel, with a gun in his pocket and a mission to accomplish. But do not think that the movie is executed in correspondence with the dramatic intensity of his criminal life. Not that "The Small Fish" is a bland film either. The point is that director Yannis Economides opted to tell the story from the other side of Stratos' personality. It is really a problem for Stratos, that he has a very soft heart: he is giving all his money to Yorgos, the brother of a guy called Leonidas, who once saved his life, so that Yorgos can execute a plan to free Leonidas from a maximum security prison; and Stratos also sees after a family that lives across his apartment building, that includes a dying grandfather, a little daughter, a disabled father and a very young prostitute mother -who in fact could be the little girl's sister too, but who knows... everything about Stratos' concerns is dark or faint, while those who surround him are screaming, bullying or abusing everybody, including him, of course. He has a violent past and after many years in jail two mob factions want his services. This is just an idea of the main plot elements but there are more that complicate the proceedings, and it takes 133 minutes to reach a fine resolution. Without pointing out the national crisis, unemployment, breaking of moral codes, or unethical actions, "The Small Fish" gives a rich panorama of what a great empire as Greece has become in the 21st century, which should also serve as a warning to the empire of the day and its citizens. And yes, the Greek title "To mikro sari" (that is, the small fish) refers to the popular saying, "Big fish eat small fish".

Dimitris-D It is generally a well-made film with an interesting plot, very good directing, and excellent acting by every one of its actors, even those playing minor characters. The strikingly empty, unpopulated spaces that predominate throughout the film seem to reflect well the inner emptiness and lack of feelings of the characters, and they are in contrast with the colourful, noisy scene towards the end, which I perceived as reflecting the fact that the last act of the protagonist was the only one driven by his emotions. On the negative side, I found that some repetitions were unnecessary and made me a little bored halfway through the film. In the last 45 minutes, however, the narration flows swiftly again and, by the end, my full interest was back again. Overall, the story is that of violence and crime that does not make you leaving the theatre with a grin on your face, but the more you think of it afterwards the more you like it. Certainly worth seeing.

ageorgiou57 I saw it last night with my wife, so it still plays in my mind.From the technical side it is completely professional.The sound quality amazing.The synchronism and the tremendous clarity of it creates an unusual impression of space where the viewer is absorbed until the last ,righteous moment. The story follows the laws of classic noir narration. So, though the protagonist is a payed killer, a certain ethic guides the story. The action is dense and not always foreseeable. All actors play naturally and very well.An unusually good film for the Greek standards until now, not a film for the whole family because of some strong language , but certainly a film I highly recommend .

KellekBaldwin Stratos (Vangelis Mourikis with impressive dark under-eye circles), an ex-convict, works at a bakery to hide the fact that he actually makes money by being a hit-man. Furthermore he's trying to free crime boss Leonidas from prison, who once saved his life. Meanwhile another crime family tries to win Stratos over to work for them. His only friend is a bottle of alcohol and his neighbour Makis.On the plus side, the film has some strong actors and solid directing. It paints a bleak picture of a desolate society which has completely given up on itself and its values. But the script lacks suspense and it keeps repeating the same situations over and over again. To be fair, there are one or two unexpected events, but i've found the movie to be very predictable, especially during the final act.It's by no means a bad film - it starts promising as a gripping and startling European neo-noir thriller, but unfortunately it ends up being too sluggish and foreseeable (at least for my taste).