Slamdance 2024 Film Festival – While I’ve seen plenty of heist movies, I haven’t quite seen one quite like writer/director Antonis Tsonis‘ feature Brando with a Glass Eye. While the film is about a heist gone wrong, it’s a heck of a lot more than that. The movie references Hamlet and various other plays, while focusing on a wannabe method actor whose life flips upside down after the botched heist. it also has a knockout performance by its lead, Yiannis Niarros, who stars as Luca.

The film has its share of offbeat elements, including the opening minutes. Luca waves a fake gun in the air, practicing one of the many monologues he recites throughout the film. Because the actor looks right into the camera, it’s a bit of a mind-bending opening. It’s hard to ascertain if Luca is crazy or not, until he breaks the character. After that attention-grabber, the film pushes the narrative along with some high stakes. Luca is offered a scholarship to study method acting in New York City. However, the travel expenses from Greece are on him. Luca works a blue-collar job and can’t afford it. Reluctantly, he agrees to go along with a heist that his brother, Alekos (Kostas Nikouli), orchestrates. It goes horribly wrong from the get-go and Luca ends up shooting an innocent man, Ilias (Alexandros Chrysanthopoulos), though he doesn’t die and Luca, plagued with guilt, visits him in the hospital and befriends him.

This feature has a lot of interwoven narratives, though somehow, Tsnonis makes them all work. There’s the issue of the failed heist, but also various family dynamics at play. Luca and Alekos carry a lot of trauma because their father killed their mother. Their grief comes out in small moments, especially near the end of the film, and it’s powerful stuff. There’s also Ilias’s family drama, and like the plot of Hamlet, his uncle beds his mother after the father’s death. There’s also the fact that the uncle is a cop and Luca has to continually act to fool him, masking his true identity from everyone so he’s not identified as the masked shooter.

While the various narrative layers are interesting, this film works so well because of the performances, especially Niarros’. It’s a delight to see him drift in and out of various monologues, some more bizarre than the other, as his character can’t decide who he actually wants to be at any given moment and is obsessed with acting, playing various videos and recordings over and over again. While much of the supporting cast is good, Chrysanthopoulos is the other standout, adding depth and nuance to his character, making Ilias’ baggage and serious family problems that much more profound.

Brando with a Glass Eye is not your typical heist movie. The film threads the needle carefully between comedy and drama, and sometimes a riveting character study. The lead performance steals the show and elevates the two-hour feature, making for an engaging watch with some clever references.

7.5 Out of 10