Anna Fonsou (b. 1939) has always been both a passionate and a very delicate subject to deal with for the fans of Greek Erotica. One can?t actually describe ?her? story without placing it in its real context that is a brief history of Greek Erotica. Fonsou was one of the stars of Greek mainstream Cinema in the late 1950s and particularly in the 1960s. Since the late 1980s, she has been the President of the very powerful Association of Greek Actors, devoting her life to syndicalism and politics (she was a candidate to be an MP for the Communists, and was recently one for the Socialists) participating only occasionally in film or theatrical productions. She starred in a half dozen erotic films in the early 1970s (all of them directed by Omiros Efstratiadis and produced by Grigoris Dimitropoulos and his company G.D. Films), at a time when the collapse of the flourishing (by local standards) Greek Cinema was ante portas.
1. The beginning of the early 1970s coincided with the ?boom? of Greek Erotica (more than 100 films), in its so-called ?Golden Era?, which lasted approximately up to 1982, when the liberalization of legislation enabled the ?official? shooting of hardcore films (most of them being treated in EGAFD). The rapid development of these softcore erotic productions occurred during a very delicate political period (the military regime) and actually provided a second boost to the declining world of mainstream cinema. Directors, technicians and actors were thus provided with another opportunity to work in these (mostly cheap) productions, which inevitably (following the international vogue) started to gain a considerable local audience. These films undoubtedly have a certain originality, as they were a unique and bizarre example of action or thriller films mixed with sex (the measure of comparison being probably the films of Jess Franco or Joe d?Amato). A whole network of local cinemas projecting this kind of films was soon developed, and the most ambitious of these productions (especially those of G.D. Films) even made it abroad, in English dubbed versions. Directors like Efstratiadis, Milonakos, Markidis, Paraskhakis, Katsimitsoulias etc. were young, ambitious talents who had learned their art well in the most important studios of the time.
Along with young or unknown talents, many mainstream actors and actresses took part in these films. The reasons for such a choice varied: difficulties of finding work in the (few) mainstream productions of the time because of their personal political convictions or the scarce offers of work, an urgent need to make money or sometimes even a more liberal approach towards sexuality. However, the very big names of Greek cinema never did, or had the need to, participate in these erotic productions. Anna Fonsou and
Gisela Dali (b. 1937) were undoubtedly the biggest ?mainstream? names to perform in this kind of ?first class? productions. Dali starred in about a dozen of them, but Fonsou was a far bigger name than Dali, having also starred in ancient drama or other modern dramatic pieces (in both theatre and cinema), whereas Dali was always limited in playing sexy roles of the spoilt young girl or ?soubrettes?. The competition in the 1970s also included a third actress, Tina Spathi, a juicy young woman (a sex volcano), who was the star of the second-rate, explicit softcore erotic productions of the time (productions by Kavayas, Konstantinou, Delerno, Iossifidis etc.). These productions were weaker in plot compared to the above mentioned and of a lower budget, while far more unknown performers were featured. Most of these films have never made it to VHS tapes and will probably remain mere ?references? in some specialized books, but, on the contrary, most of the bigger productions have recently been released in DVD, although heavily cut in comparison to the original film or their VHS edition.
2. The sexual liberation of the 1970s also had a strong impact in Greece and its very odd mixture of traditionally conservative still very open-minded society. Greek sailors kept on bringing home from their travels all over the world (mostly Scandinavian & US) magazines and 8 mm film reels, while Greek directors were very well aware of what was going on overseas. This explains their gradual turn to more bold productions and the first hints of what is widely known in Greece as ?tsontes? (hardcore inserts), i.e. a few minutes of hardcore extracts/inserts, which were projected in some specialized cinemas at the time. Actually, the projectionist used another projector to ?show? these inserts, which could have originated from the film projected or from some other irrelevant film. The projection of ?tsontes? contributed enormously to the growth in the number of sex productions and the creation of a staunch fan system, arousing simultaneously suspicions about every sex film having a parallel hardcore version, that was destined for the foreign markets. Greek sailors and students in European Universities kept on perpetuating the myth with their allegations of having watched, for example in Italy or in the Netherlands, hardcore films involving this or the other famous Greek actress (Fonsou, in particular, but many others as well).
The delayed sexual liberation in Greece combined with the sudden explosion of video production and distribution in the whole country, finally proved that in several cases, the film-makers of the 1970s did actually shoot several hardcore scenes for foreign export. Some VHS tapes of the hardcore versions of 1970s soft films made their appearance (under fake or other titles), and many related articles were available to be read in the press. However, the producers have always remained extremely silent about it, evidently trying to protect their ?professional? reputation or those of some of the well-known Greek actors. Needless to say, most of them are still working today, essentially on TV, and are still emphatically denying having ever shot hardcore stuff, implying that the hard scenes were added by European importers! Still, if one takes a closer look at the end credits of these directors? modern TV work one would have no difficulty in locating some names very familiar to porn fans?. In a way, all the above were also very lucky that the strong development of local hardcore porn (around 1982-1983) eventually guided the Greek audience in another direction, as everybody was now yearning to get and cherish a modern, strong ?tsonta? (the term having remained in the Greek vocabulary as synonym for Porn!). So, the question of who has shot or participated in a Greek ?hard? production in the 1970s or the question of which soft film did possess a ?hardcore? export version, if nowadays no longer a mystery, is largely confined in the small world of porn specialists, collectors or ?connoisseurs?.
3. Besides, Anna Fonsou - using her power and fame - has initiated huge legal battles against anyone that has written or published allegations of her having shot ?hardcore? stuff, discouraging the continuity of a (once, very popular) theme of discussion?. Nevertheless, it?s true that many of the big names participating in this kind of productions ignored the fact that directors like Efstratiadis for example had started (in a hesitant still systematic way, and in parallel to the main film?s scenes) shooting hardcore stuff, involving occasionally actors participating also in the normal production. This is how Christos Nomikos, today a quite successful TV and theatre actor, confirmed his reputation among his profession for being, both onscreen and off screen, ?the major Greek stud? of his generation. Other minor actors did also shoot hard stuff (Trifonas, Stratigakis, Gintis, Tsaftaridis, Liotsis, Neris etc.), but no one was (or still is) as famous as Nomikos.
Things are far more complicated with the actresses. Despite their undeniably very bold sex scenes and related rumours, neither Fonsou nor Dali has taken part in any hard scenes, which may not be the case for Tina Spathi (see
Angeli Diastrofis). Dali?s hard scenes in
I Spilia tis Idonis were most certainly fake. The case of Fonsou is very delicate. There is at least one film of hers (that I had once the chance to watch a long time ago) possessing a true export-hardcore version (actually some scenes were shot ?hard? in parallel, making it one of the earliest examples of a European ?porn? film!), but one cannot state from what appears that she is the one to participate in the sex scenes with Nomikos. However, it was clear, on the other hand, that Efstratiadis has shot the exactly same scene with Fonsou and another girl and Nomikos twice (Nomikos having performed in both versions of it, but Fonsou in only one!). It?s also evident, nowadays, that the assistant director K. Revithis had shot two hard scenes (both involving set technician and -at that time- occasional porn actor Nikos Kokkinos) during the shooting of
I Spilia tis Idonis: neither the director Papakostas nor the protagonists Dali or the other mainstream actors taking part in this sex comedy were aware of it at the time?. Things are also unclear concerning Natasha O?Fray (see
I Kolasmeni tou Sex or
I Noni tis Nichtas), another minor protagonist of that same era. All this leaves Maria Konsta (a still-beautiful juicy brunette who later turned to some second-rate mainstream acting and singing), the only example of a relatively known mainstream actress to have actually performed in hard scenes (see her smashing debut in
Erotiki Teleti). The other examples of Greek girls having shot hard stuff (Romanou, Samiou, Stamou, Douma, Bensoussan, etc.) concerned 3rd category actresses, specialising in this kind of productions. Things took a different turn around the late 1970s and the early 1980s, when well known foreign porn actresses were invited to appear in Greek porn films (Ajita Wilson, Pauline Teutscher, Guya Lauri Filzi, Antonella Simonetti, Marcella Petrelli etc.). By that time, though, the local market had started fabricating its own new hardcore starlets (Katerina Spathi, Monica Dimitriou, Elina Savva etc.)?
4. Overall, there are undoubtedly a lot of chapters to be written in the history of the 1970s Greek erotic productions, despite the important recent elements that have come to light, to which EGAFD and collaboration between collectors and fans has greatly contributed. In my opinion, some of these early productions have absolutely nothing to envy from other European productions of the time, and were they to possess a ?virtual? complete version (plot and hard scenes included), we would probably be speaking now of small forgotten gems?.
Regarding the question of whether Anna Fonsou (and her photo) should (or not) be included in the database, given her past it?s something I wouldn?t suggest!? In any case, any description of her participation in these erotic productions must always be accurate. By the way, although this is certainly a matter of taste, she was an attractive woman, with a nice firm body, very convincing in her erotic scenes, and - most important - who knew well how to act!
