Fuck the Polis is a collage of experiences, a poetic journey through the Greek islands led by a heterogeneous group of attentive travelers, who bring together their viewpoints to create a mosaic full of feeling and sharpness. But they are not alone in this endeavor. The performative reading of works by Cavafy, Keats, Camus, and Lord Byron — the hero of Greek independence — builds bridges with the past but, above all, reminds them that they are neither the first nor the last to make this pilgrimage. They are not discovering anything new; in fact, they seem to have arrived late to more than one island, where only ruins remain.

It must be said that the title is misleading. It neither matches the subject nor the tone of the film, which is hardly political and not vulgar at all. On the other hand, the music is perfect for each image, each scene. It is more than an accompaniment; it is a guide for savoring the landscapes and the journeys — always too short — from island to island. Indeed, the soundscape is generally very well crafted, bringing the viewer closer to the Dodecanese even if not much is shown.

The image is not always good or original, revealing that it was not conceived with a concrete script in mind, but rather structured afterward with what they had. The wide shots, from the sea or from high points on the islands, help preserve the mystery of these island towns — mysteries the filmmakers prefer not to disturb. There is only one enigma that the director sought to resolve, following the trail of the magical voice of Maria Farantouri, which she had stumbled upon by chance in 2007 on her first visit to Athens. The interview with the singer adds one more voice to the tapestry of this film, which feeds on the experiences of others to offer an idea about the part of the world where democracy was born.

Voices, poems, the sea, and the ineffable ferries that connect the different islands like Theseus with Ariadne’s thread are the true protagonists of this poetic documentary, which does not try to persuade but instead keeps the game open. Each viewer must contribute something of themselves to complete a patchwork that has been under construction for four thousand years.