The first part of an incomplete trilogy telling the story of the greek people. The film begins in 1919, with Greek immigrants from Odessa arriving near Thessaloniki. Led by the charismatic Spyros, they establish a new settlement in the delta of a river. The youngest of the settlers are Spyros' son Alexis and an orphan from Odessa, Eleni. A strong, almost incestuous affection develops between the teenagers, resulting in twins who are given to a foster family. Also standing in the way of love is Spyros, determined to take his foster daughter as his wife. The lovers then decide to flee the village, persecuted by their father, leading a life of exile. As Alexis joins a group of musicians planning to go to the United States, Eleni regains custody of the twins. Angelopoulos, as in previous films, looks at the sacrifice of civilians confronted by the workers' demonstrations of 1935, the rule of Metaxas' fascist junta and forced emigration to America, and finally the civil war of 1944-1949.
Genres:
Alexandra Aidini as Eleni
Nikos Poursanidis as Alexis
Giorgos Armenis as Nikos
Vasilis Kolovos as Spyros
Eva Kotamanidou as Kassandra
Toula Stathopoulou as Woman in the Coffee House
Thalia Argyriou as Danai
Smaro Gaitanidou as
Mihalis Giannatos as Zisis
Grigoris Evangelatos as Teacher
Aliki Kamineli as
Amdromachi Chrisomelli as
Alex Moukanos as
Dimitris Kolovos as
Thodoros Teknetzidis as
Foulis Boudouroglou as
Theofilos Alexopoulos as
Than. Alexopoulos as
Pas. Karaolanis as
Vas. Karaolanis as
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