The Athens International Film Festival has once again arrived and even though we don't get to see many "big" films this year, there are a lot of smaller yet interesting movies to choose from. Our first stop is Jake Gavin's Hector.
Hector is a different type of road movie that follows a homeless man's journey from Glasgow to London in order to find a bed in a shelter for Christmas time while simultaneously he tries to reconnect with his siblings after a 15-year-old absence. This small quiet British film is the debut of director Jake Gavin and it is helmed by non other than the great Scottish actor Peter Mullan [Tyrannosaur (2011), Trainspotting (1996), Harry Potter and the Deathly Hallows (2010)]. Hector goes from gas station to bathroom, to benches on the side of the streets, to beds in shelters as he has left his old life behind and tries to make it on his own, something that he seems to be really good at. As his journey goes on, more about his prior life and the reasons behind his currect state are revealed.
Hector wasn't the phenomenal film I was expecting as it lacked a more coherent plot and a definite ending but with its raw view on the homeless people's lives, it managed to put the audience in the vagabonds' shoes and show us that anyone could end up in such conditions. The homeless aren't just people with no future or trivial ambitions. They are people like me and you, people who just happened to face some difficult situations and have to stay roofless for a while - or for their whole lives for that matter. Gavin's direction is subtle and remains a little passive at times but his leading man, Mullan, proves once again that he is one of UK's greatest.
Hector was shown on the second day of AIFF, Friday, September 25th.
Hector was shown on the second day of AIFF, Friday, September 25th.
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