«"Re" me? With "re" I do not allow you to speak to me. I "re" do not break it! I do not accept "re" nor do I accept gesturesSaid the always eloquent Zicos speaking to his boss Mr. Pantelis while adding: "You can not treat me like that. If I unfold, I will be one and ninety and no one will save you ". In fact, when she sent him for errands, she had the answer ready in her mouth: "What do you say, great shopkeeper, joy in the thing. What are you; "Bakalogatos" you and I are the "bakalogati" ".
The outbursts of Kostas Hadjichristos in the best role of his life, as his fans of Zikos have characterized, have gone down in history while they still continue to give laughter to anyone who sees the famous movie "Of misfortune».
Many of the scenes in the film were shot in Metaxourgeio a district located in the western part of the historic center of the city of Athens and took its name from the silk processing plant that operated in the area during the years of Otto, with the name "Seriki Etaireia of Greece Athanasios Douroutis & Co.", which houses now the gallery of the Municipality of Athens.
There, in the area of Agios Pavlos, especially at the corner of Psarron and Maizonos streets, was "The Golden Hearts". The historic grocery store that in the 60's was a "station" point for him Greek cinema but also a hangout of the locals. The small picturesque grocery store with the few tables closed over the years and so everyone thought that the grocery store of the "grocery store" would be demolished and another apartment building would be built in its place.
But the neoclassical of the interwar period finally remained for several years with a padlock on its door and things reminiscent of another old and glorious era stacked. About ten years ago it reopened and turned into a tavern under the name "Acrobat".
Its basement cellar where the wooden barrels with wine used to be became a kitchen. The refrigerator in front of which some of the epic "battles" of Zikos with his boss were given was saved, but it remains in the space, constituting a decorative element.
One of the old scales of the original grocery store was saved from the historic grocery store.
Passers-by passing by make a stop to see this special landmark and to remember Zikos setting the tables and serving even the awkward customers.
All of Athens knows that the film was shot in the specific area of Metaxourgeio. However, there are many who tried to dispute that it was filmed in this store. They want to believe that the shooting took place in specially designed Finos Film studios.
The new owners of the grocery store refute any doubt by transferring the testimonies of the old residents of the area who were eyewitnesses to the shooting of Zikos. As they explain speaking to newsbeast.gr, they did not even know the history of the building they rented. But when they made the preparations to open, many came to see the old "Golden Hearts" which they visit even today looking for the "Bakalogatos".
"" Bakalogatos will open again "said many who approached us and talked to us about the glorious moments that this building experienced", explain the officials of "Acrobat".
"We did not want to keep the old name as we wanted to create a different space by giving it our own touches. So at the point where Zikos was preparing the orders we put a big board that shows him smiling while talking on the phone "they report and point out:
"We kept the tables outside that the film showed and we have kept an old photo of the time which we have placed on one of the stone walls. A part of the wall has also been saved since it has the characteristic green oil paint as well as the large wooden balcony doors ".
"The old cellar where there were wooden barrels with wine has become the kitchen of the store while it has been extended as in its original form it was almost half," they point out.
The film is based on the theatrical work of the Giannakopoulos brothers. The writing duo was addressed by himself Hadjichristos asking them to write a play for him to take to the cinema. The two brothers replied that they were working on an idea, but that they had written only seven pages.
After being informed about the central idea of the film, the actor got excited and took the risk to start shooting without actually having the script in his hands. But his talent and improvisation worked. Costas Chatzichristos "created" his role alone during the filming.
Naive but eloquent. Enthusiastic and kind, Zikos worked in Mr. Pantelis' shop and was in love with Fifika. His boss who was bitten by the young Litsa and put a provocateur to ask her father. However, things did not turn out as planned by the employee and the boss as other prospective grooms emerged.