Nyfes

Sad, beautiful, subtle, it is a strange poem about limits of love and shadows of duty. A film about sacrifice and emotions of worlds and searches. A picture of the last century, very old, small, paper cry. The people and their desire. Confuse, heavy, cold. Signs of resignation and pieces of innocent beauty. Splendid images and a delicate emotion as nimbus of confession. A parable of lost smile. Some women and a photographer. And a long travel to America. A new world, a new life and a love without bones. A Greek story. Or a story of every day in a land of nobody. It is not important. The pain, the dreams, the illusions are the same. The faces and looks are pieces of a huge game of existences, hopes and emotions. So, a sad, beautiful, subtle movie.

I had the opportunity to see this last year at The Toronto Film Festival. It was definitely my favorite of the festival. The story is beautiful and a topic that has never been featured before in a movie. All these mail-order-brides from Greece, Turkey, Russia and other east-European countries on there way to the US to marry a man they only knew from a photograph. I love the romance-story between Norman Harris and Nikki Douka. The end is quite a surprise and it brought a tear to my eye. This is not a Hollywood block-buster with lots of special effects, but it is a real story about something that happened in Greek history almost a century ago. It is not only for Greek people but also for those who love a romantic love story unfolding in tragedy...

I saw this movie on June 17 '05 at the Acadamy of Motion Pictures theater in Bevery Hills. It is an outstanding movie. Damien Lewis is very good in the film. The lead actress Victoria Haralambidou (?) is also excellent. Those with Greek blood and especially those of the diaspora will find deep emotions in this film. I came away feeling that it is a testament to the strength of Greek women. I hope that it soon will be distributed widely in the USA so that it can be seen by a wider audience. There is an unforgettable scene of all the mail order brides in their wedding dresses from throughout Greece, Turkey, and Russia. As the Damien Lewis character comments, "like snowflakes in the summer".

Every time I watch Nyfes, I think of many of my older relatives, my mom included, who emigrated to Canada in the 1940s and 1950s under very similar circumstances. The scenes shot in Greece are especially breath-taking. Voulgaris made me think how ironic it was that people were forced to leave such a beautiful, but poverty-stricken country. Damian Lewis is excellent as the hopeless romantic while Victoria Haralabidou, as Niki Douka, manages to convey the fatalistic acceptance her character must have been feeling. These two performers develop one of the best examples of culture clash in a movie. Martin Scorcese is one of the producers of this movie, and I don't think he would ever let himself be associated with something which is not artistically sound. As for Voulgaris, he has done an excellent job.

This is a wonderful film which manages to combine a historical film and romantic tearjerker all in one. The cinematography is nothing short of amazing with beautiful imagery of both the mysterious and oh so distant world of the north eastern regions of Greece and its residents. But it is not only our eyes that are offered such a visual feast as the plot is utterly engaging and the chemistry between the lead characters so immaculate that before long the audience is completely captivated and can not help but submit to the passion and sadness of the two lead characters in the face of unrequited love. A journey rich in cultural elements represented against backdrop of nostalgia, passion and love!