Les mariées

The 2005 Greek Film Festival has come to Canberra, and this movie was the biggest attraction. Wow! What a film! A touching yet subtle story of love, longing and desire. The tragedy of the situation of these mail-order brides, lost without a connection to their homeland, without money, family or hope for the future. This was a beautifully shot and acted film. The director Pantelis Voulgaris should be congratulated. Damian Lewis has never been stronger, a gorgeous leading man, who gives his character Norman, such a natural on screen presence, that there appears to be nothing artificial about him. Niki is a fine leading female character, strong, resolute, yet naturally human and weak. The love story, not just amongst the principles simmered and grew, the sexual tension not forced or faked. Wonderful.

One of those "if all movies were made like this" films. Kudos to all involved. A real-life story of passionate love. Bravo.

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.

In 1922, with the Greco-Turkish War and the Russia Civil War, the women from these countries find husband in the United States through correspondence with immigrants.

The bride Eleni (Foteini Kontoudaki) returns from the United States to Samothrace, Greece, since she has not adapted to the life in America. Her sister Niki Douka (Victoria Haralabidou) is assigned as her replacement and travels aboard the SS King Alexander to New York to marry the Greek immigrant Prodromos (Giorgos Makris) in Chicago. Nikki is a hard worker and works sewing along the trip for the passengers and crew. She becomes a leader of the brides and discovers the scheme of the crook Karabulat (Steven Berkoff) from Georgia with the Russian brides. She also falls in love with the American photographer Norman Harris (Damian Lewis) from Detroit. But Nikki is committed with Prodromos and she knows the consequence with her family in Samothrace if she runs away with Norman.

"Nyfes" is a beautiful and melancholic romance about the mail order brides from the East that come to the United States to marry unknown immigrants that they know only by pictures provided by the agencies. The sacrifice of the lead character Nikki is heartbreaking and she is aware of her duty with her unknown husband-to-be. The direction and cinematography are top-notch and the art direction is rich in details. Despite the unknown cast, the performances are excellent. I bought this DVD many years ago and only yesterday I saw this great movie, and I regret a lot. My vote is eight.

Title (Brazil): "Noivas" ("Brides")

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...

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!