I really wanted to like this movie. I feel terribly cynical trashing it, and that's why I'm giving it a middling 5. Actually, I'm giving it a 5 because there were some superb performances.

This is one of the few movies I've ever seen where the whole audience broke into spontaneous, loud applause a third of the way in.

While it doesn't offer any answers, it both thrills and makes you think.

True to its essence, the characters remain on the same line and manage to entertain the viewer, each highlighting their own distinctive qualities or touches.

Dark, unpleasant movie about contemporary Greece, set by a dying father and a lost-soul daughter. Strange how you can fall in love with an actress you haven't seen before, as I did with Ariane Labed playing Marina. I guess she reminded me both physically and spiritually of an ex-girlfriend. Attractive, somehow boyish, always making the other move, both at a distance and now and then unexpectedly intimate. All the talking in other reviews about Marina being emotionally 'dead' is total nonsense. You have to (try to) understand this character, but not many men are willing or able to. To me she was the shining light in this portrayal of a depressed, bankrupt and humiliated country. This movie worked like a magnet to me. After I finished watching it, I was almost certain the director had to be a woman of about my age. I was right. I suppose Ariane has a great filming future ahead of her, but I hope she will perform in movies like this one. But it could just as well be her best role already.

Attenberg is a weird movie. Greek cinema is full of this kind of film, and it don't make of any of it movies less impactive. The films may be a little hard to common audiences, but there is a certain delight in it.Director Athina Rachel Tsangari puts her female look in a Greece at an imminent crisis, a Greece that still the mother of western culture, but more and more is excluded of the own context, weirdly. Attenberg is original, strange, brave, funny and even reflexive. The situations in the film may be presented in an unconventional way, but it's not hard to discover how universal they are. Marina (brilliantly interpreted by Ariane Labed) may not be the typical character, but see the her world from inside may be a very interesting experiences.

23 year old Marina (Ariane Labed) has a best and only friend Bella (Evangelia Randou) living in a small Greek seaside town. She has a job driving a visiting engineer around for the big factory. Her dad is dying and she's growing out of her shell.It's a cold deadpan delivery from everybody. Starting from the awkward opening scene where the two women try tongue kissing, this is an experimental film bent on provoking something from the audience. However the one emotion provoked in me is boredom. That's even true for the weird dance number. The monotone style really wore me out. Ariane seems like a compelling actress. Her story with the father has good potential. I just got bored waiting for things to happen.

When I first saw the film I was confused and I left the theater thinking about it. That's something I always enjoy in a film and I gave it 7/10 at the time. But thinking about it and seeing it again I felt a lot that it was a superficial film masked with a meaningful exterior. The themes in this film are something people can identify with. Loosing a parent, finding your sexuality, jealousy among friends and friendship in general. But further than that it had nothing to say. No point of view, no real reason for it's existence. Just a presentation of facts. It would be better as a documentary. So pretentious and fake. From the directing to the acting and the script it was shallow and meaningless. I think the director simply wanted to show off.Don't waste your time. There are really good independent films out there. This isn't one of them.