Iron Gate (1978)

Against the backdrop of a dilapidated garden flats complex in the heart of 1970s Athens, two impecunious next-door neighbours struggle to eke out an existence. On the one hand, Antonis, a perpetually jobless former member of the Resistance, has decided to compromise, gradually forsaking his beliefs and ideals, and on the other hand, Eftychis, a ruthlessly opportunistic and foul-mouthed wastrel, is bent on making it big at all costs. Before long, with his pockets crammed with his submissive wife's meagre dowry, ambitious Eftychis concocts a seemingly foolproof plan to break into the upper crust by founding a small-scale textile factory, and he needs Antonis' expertise to make it happen. However, there is always an invisible, thin line that separates facts from illusion and desires from nightmares, and the unlikely partners' make-or-break scheme is on a collision course with disaster and the ugly side of dream-crushing truth.