Brides

Colour, 35 mm
Greece, 2004, 128 min
Section: Horizons

Synopsis

The third-class cabins below the deck of an ocean liner are full of poor brides from Greece, Turkey, Armenia and Russia, awaited in 1922 by their compatriot bridegrooms in the USA. The movie delves into the tough lives of several girls forced by conditions at home to promise themselves to men from afar. They regard their unknown future with trepidation and mistrust, and are subject to moments of despair. All these different feelings are shared by Niki as well, a girl from a rocky Greek island, yet, even so, she has sufficient inner strength to calm the others and silently come to terms with her own fate. This she manages to do until she meets the American photographer Norman on deck; together he and Niki set off on a trail of murky intrigue involving some of the unsuspecting girls. Before now he had gone below deck, captivated, just to photograph the brides; now, thanks to Niki, he begins to discover their life stories.

About the director

Pantelis Voulgaris (b. 1940, Athens) studied at Athen’s Stavrakou Film School and is now one of the most distinguished Greek directors of his generation. Before he began making short films in the mid-1960s, he was involved in 30 films as assistant director. He debuted in feature film with The Engagement of Anna (To proxenio tis Annas, 1972), then made the film The Great Love Songs (O megalos erotikos, 1973) and the political allegory Happy Day (Haroumeni imera, 1976). Other films: Stone Years (Petrina chronia, 1985), Quiet Days in August (Isiches meres tou avgoustou, 1991), Acropol (1995, Best Direction at the Cairo IFF), It’s a Long Road (Ola ine dromos, 1997). New York’s Museum of Modern Art organised a retrospective of his works in 1995.