THE TRAVELLING PLAYERS
A film by Theo Angelopoulos
The play you are about to see in five acts
is Spyridon Peresiades' immortal idyll
"Golfo the Shepherdess",
with a superb cast of famous actors,
both seasoned players and others who are young.
The love of Golfo,
tragic and profound,
deep in your heart will resound.
In the fall of 1952 we returned to Aegion.
A few veterans, but mostly younger actors.
We were tired.
We hadn't slept for two days.
LONG LIVE MARSHAL PAPAGOS!
THE SAVIOUR OF THE NATION
If we don't want to see our streets
If we don't want another Red December...
We must all rally around the Marshal.
With your vote you can make this coming Sunday,
the 16th of November 1952, a historic day.
A day of victory for the national forces.
This is why you must vote for Papagos.
By voting for him you vote for the only national candidate.
For the man who led our army to victory...
against the communist rebels in 1947-49.
A vote for the Marshal is a vote for peace,
prosperity, law and order.
Tomorrow afternoon...
The Minister of Propaganda of the Third Reich, Goebbels,
accompanied by loanis Metaxas, our National Leader,
will pass through our town
on his way to ancient Olympia.
The National Youth Organization
invites everybody to welcome him,
suitably and respectably dressed for the occasion. "
loannina
Lefkada, Xanthi...
Leave it, father. I'll do it.
Write down the dates too.
You will come back.
No matter how many years go by, you will come back,
full of remorse, to ask forgiveness.
One night in shame you will come back.
It won't come out!
Why is everyone happy and smiling, father?
Why don't you get your little bastard.
Dammit!
Because on a golden day like this, my child
the black tears stopped,
old wounds were healed.
The wheat grew tall.
And the stones turned into flowers and golden streams.
Left turn! Forward march!
Why? Didn't you like it?
You will come back.
No matter how many years go by, you will come back,
full of remorse, to ask forgiveness.
Broken-hearted, you will come back.
Why is everyone happy and smiling, father?
Why is the sun so bright today?
Why is the day so clear?
Because on a golden day like this, my child
the black tears stopped,
old wounds were healed.
The wheat grew tall
and the stones turned into flowers and golden streams.
You, this way. In room 15, the others in 17!
The day has come and in the dawn the morning star has set.
The peaks are drenched in sunlight and nightingales sing.
Partridges bathe in the streams
but the proudest partridge of them all,
the beautiful Golfo, has not appeared.
But here she comes!
Good day to you, Tassos.
Good day to you, Golfo.
They might be watching!
No one can see us save the birds of the forest.
And the birds?
Not like that... scared... the way your mother would say it.
No one can see us
save the birds of the forest and the surrounding peaks.
And the birds?
From the beginning, comrade.
- Good morning. - Good morning.
Hello, mother.
Don't look at me. I look awfuI in the morning.
I'm on a 48-hour pass.
We leave for the border in a couple of days.
At least you don't hate me like your sisters.
Still the same obsession!
I knew you'd come.
- Again? - I dreamt about it.
No, this was something different.
We were in a garden. It was summer.
You were three or four years old.
The air was fragrant. Someone was singing.
No, it was Mr. Kokinos playing the violin. Remember him?
Then, I don't know what happened.
You ran to me. Hid between my legs.
I held you tight
untll you started to sink inside me
and disappeared.
I got up then.
Mr. Kokinos was still playing the violin.
But I could feel you inside me.
Good day to you, Tassos.
Welcome, beautiful partridge, for whom my eyes pined.
Good day to you, Golfo.
Orestes! Orestes!
Orestes!
How are you, father?
I am rotting!
The daisy told me that you don't love me.
That you no longer adore me.
You cannot melt away my sadness,
however sweet your caresses...
having great power.
And the earth was illuminated with his glory.
And he cried out in a mighty voice saying:
Babylon! Babylon the great has fallen!
When are you leaving?
Tomorrow morning...
for the border, from what they say.
Then we'll soon be at war here, too.
One night I crossed the river!
There can be no doubt for any Marxist, that a revolution
is impossible without revolutionary conditions.
What are the characteristics of revolutionary conditions?
When a crisis breaks out in the rullng classes
and indignation of the oppressed classes emerge.
When the misery and suffering
of the oppressed classes take a more acute form.
When as a consequence of the above mentioned conditions
there is a great increase in the activity of the masses
who in times of peace quietly allow themselves to be robbed
but in revolutionary times are forced by circumstances
and the crisis in the rullng classes
towards independent historical action.
We must explain to all governments:
We know you are the armed force against the proletariat.
We will march against you,
in peace, whenever possible,
with guns when it becomes unavoidable.
Feasts! Bread! Gallows!
Tell me, girls...
How are you doing? Where are you going?
Here comes Golfo and there's Tassos, too.
Come in and see them.
Outside don't wait,
the play is great!
Don't debate, it's already eight!
Tell me, you guys...
How are you doing? Where are you going?
Here comes Golfo and there's Tassos too.
Come in and see them.
The day has come and in the dawn the morning star has set.
The peaks are drenched in sunlight and nightingales sing.
Partridges bathe in the streams
but the proudest partridge of them all,
the beautiful Golfo, has not appeared.
But here she comes!
Good day to you, Tassos.
Welcome beautiful partridge,
for whom my eyes pined.
They might be watching!
No one can see us save the birds of the forest
and the surrounding peaks.
And the birds?
What is it? What's wrong, Golfo?
How can we be together when you run from the eagle's shadow.
I thought it was the shadow of a man.
Don't be afraid.
Only God is here to see us
and surely it is His wish
that we love each other faithfully and honourably.
Look around you Golfo at the clouds around us
which like a mist, like a blanket thrown from heaven
shield us from mallcious gossip
and indiscreet eyes.
You are my only thought, my only dream...
And truly I pray for you
and light a candle to the Virgin Mary.
You will come back.
No matter how many years go by, you will come back,
full of remorse, to ask forgiveness.
One night in shame you will come back.
When you reallze you were mistaken,
broken-hearted you will come back.
In the meantime the Turks occupied Karahissar.
It was August 1922.
The front was breaking up.
Our soldiers arrived, threw down their arms.
The Greek Army no longer existed. Disaster had struck.
I managed to board an Italian ship,
swimming all the way from Aghia Triada.
Thank God there were the Italians.
They had designs on Asia Minor too
but they were more human,
and bringing them to Greek soil.
Whlle the French, the Americans and especially the British
who helped cause the war as it served their own interests
showed the worst conduct.
I boarded that ship
with nothing on but my pants.
Finally, we arrived in Keratsini.
I was so hungry.
I longed for spaghetti cooked in oil.
I kept saying to myself:
I wish I had something to eat!
I jumped into the sea. The others jumped too.
He gave me an old shirt to wear.
I set out for Piraeus with a man from Chios.
We reached a country tavern where they were cooking beans.
There was a couple inside.
I asked for some water.
"Where are you from?" they asked.
"We are the first refugees from Asia Minor," I replied.
"Sit down," said the couple. "Give them something to eat. "
We ate a whole portion of beans.
They also treated us to some retsina wine.
It turned out that they were royalists.
And some nonsense about the last king of Byzantium.
I said: "I've eaten, I thank you, goodbye!" And we left.
I was furious.
We spent the night in a church in Piraeus.
All the refugees had gathered there.
I slept in a pushcart.
In the morning I told my companion from Chios:
"We'll go find work. "
"Where?" he said.
"Wherever we see a smoke stack, we'll go. "
We finally saw one.
I was barefoot.
I asked the guard at the factory:
"Excuse me, we are refugees. Are there any jobs for us?"
"Come in," he said.
They gave us 2 drachmas a day and a place to sleep.
It was better than nothing!
In the meantime I wondered
what had happened to my famlly.
I saw an old neighbour.
How are you?
He was the brother of Vassilis, the actor.
"Your oldest brother was lost," he told me.
"Your father, mother and the kid got off at Mytilene. "
I searched heaven and earth to find them.
But I never did.
Black is the night on the mountains,
On the cliffs, the snow is falling.
In the wilderness, in the darkness...
on the hills, on the rocks, on the paths...
The Greek draws his sword!
At 5:30 this morning, 28th October, 1940.
the Italian Armed Forces attacked our frontiers
along the Greek-Albanian border.
Our forces are defending the land of our fathers!
Our show tonight is dedicated...
to this first army communique
and to victory.
The day has come and in the dawn the morning star has set.
The peaks are drenched in sunlight and nightingales sing.
Partridges bathe in the streams
but the proudest of them all,
the beautiful Golfo, has not appeared.
But here she comes.
Good day to you, Tassos.
Welcome, beautiful partridge, for whom my eyes pined.
They might be watching.
No one can see us save the birds of the forest
And the birds?
What is it? What's wrong, Golfo?
How can we be together when you run from the eagle's shadow.
I was terrified.
I thought it was the shadow of a man.
Don't be afraid.
Only God is here to see us and surely it is His wish
that we love each other faithfully and honourably.
The daisy told me that you don't love me...
that you no longer adore me.
I did it!
At first they didn't want to take me.
I said: "Take me even as an auxiliary. "
In the end they took me.
Undress.
Are you coming?
where everything in life is fleeting.
Come and place a kiss on my hair.
If we don't want to see our streets
smeared once again with the hammer and sickle.
If we don't want another Red December...
We must all rally around the Marshal.
the 16th of November, 1952, a historic day.
A day of victory for the national forces.
This is why you must vote for Papagos.
A vote for the Marshal
is a vote for the only national candidate.
For the man who led our army to victory...
against the communist rebels in 1947-49.
His victory will mean peace, prosperity, law and order.
Is this where you said the Englishman was hiding?
You!
I was terrified.
I thought it was the shadow of a man.
You made me drunk, you made me mad.
I lost my head. I don't know what to say.
Oh, God! They'll kill each other!
And I'll scratch your eyes out, you and that witch.
Take this bread and cheese, child.
I'll go and tend my sheep.
Are you still standing, you ingrate!
Kneel and ask forgiveness from that angel!
is Spyridon Peresiades' immortal idyll
"Golfo, the Shepherdess", with a superb cast...
It looks like the Englishman managed to escape at night.
We have information he was hiding on stage last night,
disguised as a woman.
Informer!
Bitch!
I came from beyond the sea, from lonia. And you?
Fire!
I can feel your daughter watching us like a dog.
Why don't you send her away?