The Christmas Chronicles 2: touching references about Greece by Netflix
For sure no one would expect Greece to be mentioned in a Christmas movie, let alone these references to be touching.
The Christmas Chronicles 2, starring Kurt Russell and Goldie Hawn, is Netflix's top Christmas movie for 2020.
Santa Claus (Kurt Russell) fights to protect the Christmas spirit from people who don't like it and do everything to destroy it.
The wife of Santa Claus (Goldie Hawn) narrates us the origin of Santa Claus:
This is where it all began
back in 312 AD
Santa was living in Asia Minor, today, it's called Turkey
Santa was known as Saint Nicholas
he was a bishop who discovered the joy of giving
became something of a local hero
and his legend spread far and wide, eventually reaching the forest Elves
During the narration, Agios Nikolaos puts coins as a gift in shoes and socks. He is Santa Claus young, as he has a black beard instead of a white.
And the narration continues:
There was a prophecy about a man who would be king of the Elves
who would one day would lead them to safety
their leader Hakan, knew that Saint Nicholas was the only one
who could channel the Star of Bethlehem's power
from that day forward, they no longer referred to him as Saint Nicholas
they called him Santa Claus
and he led the Elves on a mystical journey to an unknown land
where Christmas would truly endure
In short, we are told that the American Santa Claus and the Greek Saint Nicholas are the same person!
Then, at various points of the film, Santa Claus is addressed both Nicholas and Nikos.
Then the producers of the movie advertise Greece, they may want to clarify that all the above are Greek traditions as this has not been explicitly mentioned.
At Boston Airport, where the film continues, several shots are made on a poster with the Acropolis, which reads "Greece, we can take you there".
Like icing on the cake, a shot is made with Santa Claus happy next to the poster.
All this shows how Greek culture is a constant source of inspiration for Hollywood films despite the problems the country faces from time to time.