Aggressive prosperity, violent austerity in Standing Aside, Watching

This chapter locates class and class struggle in the context of post-2008 Greek cinema and politics. Recent Greek films have often been read as allegories of Greece's political and economic situation. Barotsi focuses on one such film, Standing Aside, Watching (2013) by Giorgos Servetas, in which the main character is forced to move from the city to a small town due to financial difficulties. Barotsi examines how this move exposes the changing status of the Greek middle class, and how the issue of class is entangled with questions of patriarchy and urban versus provincial status.