comments and caps by Melaninis:

The Spartan

2004

Kristen Bell in David Mamet's engrossing thriller "The Spartan".

The Idlers of the Fertile Valley

1978

Olga Karlatos

This is a Greek film based on the book of the same name by Albert Cossery.

A father and his three sons retire to a country-side mansion after inheriting the mansion itself and an amount of money that will enable them to live there without working and be taken care of by a maid. Gradually, sleeping occupies all of their day; even the relaxing walks in the nature, conversation and singing at the dinner table are regarded as unnecessary deviations from their sleeping. The few external persons are excluded by their overwhelming desire to sleep: one of the sons chooses to leave his local girlfriend and an artist seeking support by the bourgeois environment is not welcomed. The youngest son compromises his will to leave and study at the university, and even the second time he tries to break the bondage, he is physically unable to walk away. There is a contrast between the bourgeois family and the maid that does all the work, cleaning, cooking, and taking care of everything, even having sex with all four of them. The film is a descendant of Bunuel’s films and Marco Ferreri’s “Le grande bouffe” (Blow out). In its depiction of a family separated from the outside world, it might be considered a forerunner of “Kynodontas” (Dogtooth).