Movie Review: The Pirate (God Loves Caviar), a Greek-Russian-English history movie from 2012!

"O Theos Agapaei To Haviar" or in the previous English title "God Loves Caviar" is Greek history movie about the Greek pirate legend  Varvakis. The movie was one of the official selections that debuted in "2012 Toronto Film Festival" In 2013 The Pirate was the highest grossing film in Greece. In Russia the movie was released as "Pirates of the Aegean Sea". In England the movie got re-released in 2015 as "The Pirate" but don't let the pirate title fool you, the movie is more about Varvakis life when he discovered caviar then his pirate life.

Story:

Ioannis Varvakis (Sebastian Koch) is an adventurous pirate, famous and loved by the Greeks, fared and hated by the Turks,  one day he get assigned by Count Lefentarios (Juan Diego Botto) to fight on his side with the Russians against the Turks. For the sake of his people Varvakis agrees and sacrifice his own ship to accomplish his mission. Unfortunately he get caught by the Turks, sent to prison while Greece occupies by Turkey. Varvakis manage to escape and fled to Russia, there he gets pardoned by the Russian empress Catherine II (Catherine Deneuve). However there is a catch, since he used to be a captain on a ship, the empress assigned Varvakis to the Caspian Sea for the fishing market against the Persians. But by a vision from god, Varvakis discover eatable fish eggs or Caviar from a special fish, and he also discover how to keep it fresh for months inside barrels. Varvakis becomes successful and wealthy. But when he hears that his former friend Lefentarios has betrayed Greece and work for the British, a revolution has begun, then Varvakis world turns upside down.

Overall: 

A very interesting movie about Varvakis life, it portrays well of his pirate life to his glory days in Russia to his down fall in Greece during the British empire. Despite Sebastian Koch is a German actor, he perform well as the Greek pirate and hero. John Cleese is a great comic relief as the British judge. If one is a person who expecting a typical pirate movie as "Cutthroat Island" or "Pirates of the Caribbean" than get ready for disappointment, it has nothing to do with piracy or sea buccaneers, but if one is interested in fantasy and touchy story and want to know more of European history then The Pirate is for you. I reward The Pirate 8/10.