Der Tag, an dem die Fische kamen

This is the first of 3 efforts by this foremost Greek film-maker that I will be watching in tribute to his recent passing; that said, I have 3 other early works of his which I decided to by-pass at the moment. Following the commercial success of ZORBA THE Greek (1964), Cacoyannis was probably given carte blanche and he responded with a Cold War satire that seems to have been inspired both by DR. STRANGELOVE OR: HOW I LEARNED TO STOP WORRYING AND LOVE THE BOMB (1963) and THE RUSSIANS ARE COMING, THE RUSSIANS ARE COMING! (1966)! The results, however, turned out to be rather limp and its failure sent the director back to his favorite subject i.e. Greek tragedy (more on this in my next review!).

The plot deals with a plane carrying nuclear armaments crashing onto a small and obscure Greek island – when the aircraft is spotted by a fisherman and the locals cheer that they will finally make the news, the U.S. Air Force is quick to dispel the rumors, asserting that no plane (and its dangerous cargo) has gone missing! In the meantime, the two pilots (Tom Courtenay and Colin Blakely, actually Brits!) have swum to land in their underwear, and they spend two-thirds of the running-time trying to figure out how to acquire some form of clothing and food but, more importantly, contact their base to give them their position. What they do not know is that a military operation – led by Sam Wanamaker and numbering among its components Ian Ogilvy – has been commissioned, arriving incognito as land/business assessors for the purposes of erecting a hotel there, to retrieve the box containing the nuclear gizmo (having assumed the pilots drowned)! Soon after, however, tourists inundate the island – having become the newest thing in paradise resorts overnight!

Others who come into the picture are a shepherd and his wife who actually discover the box and spend the entire film attempting to open it, and a nymphomaniac artist (Candice Bergen) who becomes involved with Ogilvy. The leading lady's role is quite pointless, though, especially since she leaves well before the end after having made yet another conquest! Similarly, Courtenay seems to have been recruited merely because his name was hip at the time (anybody could have played his character, and his compulsion for food is especially unconvincing in view of the actor's lanky figure)!

Though not quite as bad as the BOMB rating allotted it by the "Leonard Maltin Film Guide" would suggest, and the proceedings certainly prove amusing in spots, overall this is far from inspired stuff and decidedly forgettable into the bargain! What is more, for such a backwards community, the characters are decked out in the height of Carnaby Street fashion (amazingly, Cacoyannis personally designed the clothes!): we are thus treated to a couple of modern dances – the traditional Greek form being relegated to the opening titles, despite the whole film being scored by ZORBA's Mikis Theodorakis – which would not have been amiss within AIP's "Beach Party" franchise!

The film ends abruptly – via an ostentatious but effective series of ever-distant zooms – with the titular sequence (a multitude of dead fish are seen rising to the surface) indicating that the radiation has taken effect. Actually, the whole population is infected since the water system has also been unwittingly contaminated by the shepherd's wife! Unfortunately, the copy I acquired was plagued throughout with video/audio glitches which made the whole experience of watching the film even less enthusing!

Michael Cacoyannis, the Greek director, working on his own material, gives us an intriguing look at a would be catastrophic end for all the people in a remote Greek island where nothing ever happens, but where just by a freak accident, it is suddenly possible.

We meet the Navigator and the Pilot, two Englishmen that have been wrecked after their aircraft, carrying two atom bombs, suffer an accident. This accident, and its dire consequences, bring to the island of Makos, in the Aegean Sea, a team of investigators led by Elias, who pretends they are interested in building a hotel in the arid place. The canny inhabitants of the island are confused as to why do they pick a place in the middle of nowhere instead of right on one of the lovely beaches.

Throughout the film we watch the two crew members running around the island in tattered briefs that, at times, seem not to hide any of the two men's charms. Word gets out that Makos is going to become fashionable and soon the jet set descends in the place, attired in weird futuristic costumes.

The island suddenly changes into a touristy place where the fun goes on forever, bu unaware of the danger from the possibility of the bombs exploding at any moment. There is an ironic twist when a peasant couple discovers one of the devices. Not knowing what it is, they are able to cut with acid into the strange box only to find out strange balls. The woman decides to keep two for her young son to play, but ultimately, the husband, upon discovering them, and thinking they are nothing, throws them into the water system.

The film seems sadly dated. Since there are so many characters, no one seems to dominate the proceedings. Tom Courtney and Colm Blakely are good as the Navigator and the Pilot. Sam Wanamaker is the head of the people trying to find the devices. Candice Bergen is seen as a model type who sets shop in the island.

Fascinating misfire from writer-director Michael Cacoyannis concerns two atom bombs lost in the Aegean Sea, and the unconventional search team (American agents disguised as flashy tourists) who sail to a remote Greek island to retrieve them. Wildly uneven semi-comedy/sort-of drama seems stuck in a weird dichotomy of its own design: the picture is a brazen apocalyptic parody while, at the same time, a buddy picture between a male pilot and a navigator from NATO (they spend a great deal of time together bare-chested in their BVDs, though there are no sexual overtones between the two, at least none that I picked up on). It's the silliest of ventures, decked out in garish mod attire, and yet one can hardly look away. For those who do stick with it, the final sequence manages to pack a surprisingly thought-provoking little jab. We're all doomed, Cacoyannis says, but at least we'll go out dancing. ** from ****

This isn't a great movie, and not even really a good movie, but it is...well, something. It seems to be the wacky, 1960s, Greek bastard/child of "Dr. Strangelove" and "The Russians Are Coming". It popped up recently on the Fox Movie Channel. Tom Courtenay was playing very serious in "Doctor Zhivago" a couple of years earlier. Here he is trying for laughs and mostly in his underwear. In fact there are lots of pretty people wearing very little, and when they are wearing something it's often designed by the director/writer/producer himself, and it's beyond the valley of mod. In fact, the movie could use more mod and more Grecian scenery. Recommended if you like movies from the late 60s.

I was probably one of the few people to see this film on its original release, in New York, in some smart cinema on the east side as I recall.

I rather liked it (for a variety of reasons all of which I won't go into here), then it virtually disappeared for years.

Once I did manage to catch it on a late night movie channel out of Baltimore, 45 if I remember correctly. The reception and (disappointingly) the color were atrocious. But I still liked it and for all of the same reasons.

One of the main ones is the unique musical score by Mikis Theodorakis. It's a kind of eclectic, almost post-modern fusion of Greek ethnic and avant garde sounds, jaunty, lyrical melodies, and a dynamic end-of-the-world dance track called "The Jet". All very appealing.

It's still one of my favorite vinyl STs. Play it once and the tunes are in your head for days.

Would love to have a good restored and annotated copy of this film on DVD and BluRay.