Release date1984 (1984) Initial DVD releaseFebruary 14, 2006 (Greece) CastNikos Kalogeropoulos (Pvt Ioannis Papadopoulos), Giorgos Kimoulis (Pvt Ahilleas Labrou), Stavros Xenidis (Col A. Kontelis), Andreas Filippides (Lt. Col. Minas Katsabelas), Tania Kapsali (Emmanouela Dimaki) Similar moviesNightcrawler, Terminator Salvation, Independence Day, The Lord of the Rings: The Two Towers, Star Wars: Episode II - Attack of the Clones, 300
Loafing and Camouflage (Greek: Λούφα και Παραλλαγή Lufa ke Paralayi/L&C) (1984) is a Greek cult comedy classic motion picture directed by Nikos Perakis. It was followed by the 1987 motion picture Bios kai Politeia(Life and Times), bringing the characters in a post-20 year "reunion". In 2005, Loafing and Camouflage: Sirens in the Aegean was released, bearing no relation to the first installment; instead, telling the story of a modern-day Army company. A TV series version of the movie aired for two seasons, featuring actors from the latest L&C movie in the roles of the original characters from the 1984 installment.
The film tells the story of a group of soldiers, who, during their compulsory military service in 1967 and 1968, before and during the Greek Junta, are assigned to the, then, recently founded Armed Forces Television. This TV station, founded for the civilian population, was run by the Army Cinematographic Unit which until then had only produced propaganda films and newsreels and was responsible for entertaining the troops and other charity organizations with movie screenings. The personnel was composed mostly of soldiers, who already had experience in the film business in their civilian lives, as well as those who received their training in the army.
The setting, characters and situations portrayed in the film are largely autobiographical. During his military service, Perakis helped set up the experimental Armed Forces Television station in the premises of the Hellenic Military Geographical Service, and the film shows a fictionalized account of this period.
Cast
Nikos Kalogeropoulos as Private Giannis Papadopoulos
Giorgos Kimoulis as Corporal Achilleas Lambrou
Takis Spyridakis as Private Panagiotis Balourdos
Fotis Polychronopoulos as Private Michail Karamanos, aka Karamazov
Giannis Chatziyannis as Private Petros Savidis
Paris Tselios as Private Marlafekas
Stavros Xenidis as Colonel A. Kontellis
Andreas Filippidis as Lieutenant Colonel Minas Katsampelas
Christos Valavanidis Major D. Karavidis
Antonis Theodorakopoulos as Captain
Nikos Tsachiridis as Sergeant Major
Tania Kapsali as Emmanouella
Ifigenia Makati as Katerina
Rocky Taylor as Cindy
Dimitris Poulikakos as John Papaloukas
Michalis Maniatis as Mr. Karlatos
Awards
Special Mention, 1985, Thessaloniki International Film Festival
Grand Prix, 1984, Thessaloniki International Film Festival
Best Screenplay, 1984, Thessaloniki International Film Festival
Best Actor, 1984, Thessaloniki International Film Festival
Best Editing, 1984, Thessaloniki International Film Festival
Golden Bear, Nominated, 35th Berlin International Film Festival