Soul Kicking (Soul in Mouth): Language in Chains of Violence and Silence

• In Event: Scenes of Crime: Narratives of Crime in Movies, Novels, and Theater in Greece During the Crisis

Abstract

Soul Kicking (Η Ψυχή στο Στόμα, 2006) by Yannis Economides is a relentless storm of violence—physical, linguistic, and existential. It does not merely depict brutality; it immerses us in it. The title itself—Soul in Mouth—evokes a suffocating presence, a scream caught between clenched teeth. Here, language is not a bridge but a battleground, a relentless barrage of insults, curses, and humiliations, wielded like weapons rather than words.
At its core, the film dissects the slow suffocation of Takis, a man crushed under the weight of obligation and failure. He exists in a world of voices—shouting, cursing, demanding—yet remains mostly silent, absorbing abuse rather than resisting it. But silence, in Soul Kicking, is no refuge; it is another form of violence. Takis’ muteness does not protect him—it condemns him. The film dares to ask: Is silence ever neutral, or is it always an act of surrender?
Economides’ cinema is transgressive, stripping away pretense to expose the raw, brutal underbelly of Greek society. His dialogue is a relentless assault, an obscene symphony of domination and degradation. Unlike the ironic detachment of Lanthimos, Economides offers no safe distance—only immediacy, sweat, cigarette smoke, and the hum of fluorescent lights that reveal nothing but despair. His film belongs to a wave of Greek cinema that does not tell stories but stages autopsies, revealing the rot beneath the surface.
And so, we are left with unsettling questions: Can language exist in silence? If language is the vessel of thought, can it ever be truly free, or is it always shaped, constrained, and even weaponized by the structures of power that seek to define it? Can personal thought remain untouched when language is policed? When does language cease to be culture and become transgression? If speech is power, then what is left for those who cannot—or will not—speak?

Author

• Aleksander Rammos, Law (LLM mult.) & Forensic Psychiatry (MSc)| Center for the Study of Crime