Come on, Eleni.
- Come on, Niki. - Eleni! Where's Eleni?
Eleni.
Oh, my God...
It's me, little sister.
My little girl.
What did that man do to you?
Children!
Take a picture of me!
Come on, let's go to the tree. Tell me what's on the tree here.
What tree is that? What tree is that?
Here, do you see?
Here.
Up here? On this branch here?
Isn't it pretty?
- Allah covered the sky today. - Yes, he did.
- Have you got anything for me? - Yes.
- Key... - Thanks.
The messages and...
a package.
- All for you, Mr. Harris. - Great.
A present?
Yeah. I hope so. Thank you.
Dear Norman, your photos of the war between the Greeks and the Turks...
are interesting, although too artistic for a daily newspaper.
Unfortunately, we've already hired another one of your colleagues.
To let him slip right through our hands.
To pass up a fine tailor. A great place like Chicago?
I couldn't take it, Uncle.
God showered our family with daughters. Like locusts.
And no bridegrooms, no dowries. The war's to blame!
- 0ur dears will be left on the shelf. - Seven.
Seven cousins of marrying age!
So let's send this Prodromos another one.
This time from my family.
My Alexandra is ready to go to the far ends of the earth.
Alexandra, tell them.
And she's 27.
- 29. - Be quiet!
Brother, I have four unmarried daughters and I'm a widow.
I want another chance.
Niki's godmother knows I need more help.
Niki...
it's your turn.
Prodromos is a very honest man.
And you have a better knowledge of English. I'll teach you more.
So why did you call us when you'd already decided?
Alexandra.
It's unfair.
Even the Lord sees that.
Haro!
My daughter... Haro!
Haro!
Antonis.
- Antonis. - My long-haired Haro.
The doctor told me that next Monday...
they will remove the cast and see what happened with my leg.
I am optimistic! I want to return to Samothrace a strong man.
Haro, you have not written to me what color your eyes are.
Brown, perhaps?
What would I have done all these months without your letters?
I embrace you tenderly. Private Antonis Memas.
The servant Hariclia is betrothed to the servant Constantinos.
In the name of the Father, the Son and the Holy Ghost. Amen.
Have a good journey to America.
Forgive me.
I just wanted to admire you as a bride.
Grandfather...
Natalia Petrova?
- Thank you. - You're welcome.
Dalia Emanova?
Thank you.
Maria Nonova?
Thank you, thank you very much.
So...
did you go to the doctor I've told you about?
0lga, my little goldfish.
With this, you have paid for your ticket.
0kay. You'd like to look at the... the young man?
0kay, sit down. Sit down.
0kay, Ghanadi Youssef. Thirty years-old.
A real world worker on the west Coast of America.
Look at those eyes? Handsome son-of-a-bitch!
We wrote to each other.
On 2nd of May, 1922, which is, of course, today in other words...
at ten o'clock precisely, which is...
midnight American time, the priest...
will place a ring on the finger of the lucky fiancée.
0kay, please, everybody, let's have quiet. Thank you very much.
0kay, 0lga.
Step over here. Here.
I announce the engagement of this servant of God, 0lga...
to the servant of God, Ghanadi.
Please.
So, you are now engaged.
It feels good, yeah?
When I arrived, there was a blizzard.
- Yes. - The snow was a meter deep.
For a whole fortnight, I cried day and night.
I couldn't take Chicago.
And you think I can?
I swear to you, Niki, on dad's bones.
Prodromos is a gentle man.
That's the second bride from the same family in four months.
He agreed right away. Even I was surprised.
Is there someone you love here on the island?
Have I ever sewn myself a new dress to go out on a date?
Have I ever placed jasmine on my breast?
Have I ever waited for the postman? Love...
Love is for idlers, Eleni. I can do without it.
If only it was someone else...
someone who expected me first.
I'm going to a foreign land with the same wedding dress...
and the same photograph you were holding last year.
Are you sure?
If you got the cash, yes.
So, the "Boston world", then.
From "Smyrna Gazette" to the "Boston world".
And you're just taking my first paycheck.
Get out of here.
Good luck, kid. And watch your ass on battle.
Have a good trip, big guy.
It's been a while since you read my palm, Emine. What does it say now?
A wave will erase all your past life.
It already has. I'll start all over again.
- How? - Who knows?
Selling automobiles, maybe. Or shoes.
And no more pictures?
I'm going home.
At least maybe I can save my marriage.
Hey, the glasses! Who did asked to take them?
Let us drink, we'll pay you.
All these trouble for some water!
Who are all those women?
They are the mail order brides.
Wars, rape, orphan hood, earthquakes, poverty...
that's what's driving these women away.
- To where? - To America...
which is full of unmarried immigrants.
Dear Lord...
don't let the sea get angry.
Make America beautiful.
Make her look like Russia.
In the name of the Father, the Son and the Holy Ghost. Amen.
Are any of you from Samothrace?
- Are any of you from Samothrace? - No. I am from Russia.
- Are any of you from Samothrace? - I don't know.
- Is any girl from Samothrace? - We are all from Giannena here.
- Is any girl from Samothrace? - Over here!
Come.
Sit with us.
What's this?
It's my Grandfather's "oud".
He taught me to play.
- Are you seamstresses? - I am.
Laurel leaves, garlic and lentils. The groom asked for this food.
Says American garlic doesn't smell.
Prodromos. He has a tailor's shop in Chicago.
He'll sew men's clothes and I'll sew the women's.
Sent word he'd marry anyone so long as she wasn't a nag.
What can I do? Four women are depending on me.
And four men are depending on me.
I am Niki and these girls are also from the island.
- Angeliki, Lemonia. - Katerina.
- Margarita. - Antigoni.
Maria.
Samothrace is going to take over Chicago!
I am Haro, from Thrace.
I worked at the Turkish delight factory until it was destroyed.
I am going to Canada to marry a pastry maker.
Is he from Samothrace?
The pastry maker. Is he from Samothrace?
No, not him.
Making friends is wonderful. Making money is fine.
Hey, girls. Let's have a dance.
Come on.
Cheers!
It's a nice party?
- You know each other? Marion. - Hi!
0ur friend Emine told me that you are an excellent photographer.
I'd like to ask you a favor.
Take my portrait for the newspaper of my island.
Mykonos.
Father Yorgos, the ship photographer, did not do a good job.
Both times I came with my eyes closed.
I'm sorry, but my photographer days are over.
So, a war is the only thing that inspires you?
Exclusively manly things?
No, war doesn't inspire me.
What... what about these?
Sweet?
- I was never so lucky, Mr... - Karaboulat. "Kara-boulat".
From the beautiful land of Georgia. You should photograph it sometime.
I run an immigration agency. I have 70 passengers on board.
Congratulations. I thought you imported spicy photographs.
What's wrong with spicy photographs? These Eastern women...
ethereal bodies. They make you sad.
- This is not pornography. It's art. - No, sure.
Fine. I understand.
Well, if you wish to see them, I'm in the cabin 57.
- 0k, thank you. Nice to meet you. - Nice to meet you too. Thank you.
Good evening.
- Good evening. - Where are the other girls?
- The women? - They left.
- Your English is good. - Thank you.
My godmother taught me English and sowing.
- I'm a seamstress. - What's your name?
- Mine is Norman. - My name's Niki Douka.
Oh, then mine is Norman Harris.
What papers were you tearing?
You were tearing photographs?
I was a photographer.
You're not anymore?
Right now, I'm nothing but passenger.
Like me.
I'm less. I'm neither a seamstress nor a bride.
If you have more photographs, don't tear them.
- Just give them to me. - What would you do to them?
Even photographs of strangers are very good for decoration.
Your house must have a lot of photographs.
- Only one. - Your parents' wedding?
No. My father in his coffin.
- I'm sorry. - Yes...
my father in his coffin and...
all the family around him.
This is the way, in my island...
many people have their only photograph. When they're dead.
So what photograph did you send to America?
I did not.
The girls from my island, we send birth paper...
so husband knows each. - Here.
Haro's veil.
So you mend wedding gowns as well?
There are 700 down there. Most of them are 2nd, 3rd hand.
Good night.
Where are you from?
I'm from a place I'll never see again.
And one and two! Let's go, legs!
Let's have a real movement with the leg. Carol!
Carol, you put on some weight, darling! Take a break!
Captain...
"The Nine Muses" is their big hit. They may be a disaster...
but 2 or 4 more rehearsals, and they'll fly again!
Sure, Marion, sure.
0nce they've seen Acropolis, Troy...
and the Delphi up close, they'll sore.
These women are bored with their marriages.
- They wouldn't know how to cook. - By the way, Marion.
There is a Singer machine and a tailor on the 1 st class...
who can replace your costumes. - Does he embroider?
That's asking him for a lot.
There's a seamstress on 3rd class. Niki Douka.
Good. Hey, Nicholas!
Go find this Niki Douka.
Tell her there is a good job for her in First Class.
Excuse me, gentlemen.
Come on, girls, stick those chests out!
And one, and two, and three, and four, and five. Five!
The moustache does not suit him.
Tell me more about Antonis.
I told you. They took him in the army. Almost five years ago, now.
I remember his hair. Black, almost raven.
You only remember his hair?
His house was a long way away. Near the Church of St. Elias.
A two-hour walk.
- What was it like? - Skye-blue windows.
- Small. - That's all?
And jasmine. A whole forest.
- Try to remember a little more. - He sang in church.
The choir master wanted to send him to study Byzantine music.
To study too!
Imagine...
If it says January 27th 1922, it's the sixth letter.
So we don't mix them up.
"January 27...
1922.
Haro...
our lives will change in Samothrace, my Haro.
You'll like it there very much. From our vineyard, the Aegean...
glows with an even deeper shade of blue.
You still didn't write to tell me the color of your eyes.
You keep forgetting.
I embrace you tenderly, Antonis Memas."
He writes so beautifully.
Who would have expected it from Antonis?
A real love letter.
I'm going to be like a sculpture at the ruins of Athens.
I'm sorry, darling, we have a rehearsal. Come, come, come!
0kay, let's begin. And turn. And one, and two...
wait! Oh, you turn.
Continue, please.
And one, and two...
- Yes, that's very... - Bravo, ladies!
Good! Good!
Make the tunic as short as possible. No one is interested in their art.
Six, and seven, and eight. Balance... and turn, and...
- Sophie! - Grace! Come outside! Hurry up!
I want to see the dolphins.
I see you this evening.
You're very good at your work.
Every person has a gift.
- What kind of photos did you make? - Unusual ones.
- Who paid? - Nobody.
Then, why?
I'd like to take photographs of things that others pass over.
Details. The minor things.
Minor things?
- Did you photograph Americans? - I sold to Americans.
It was still the fashion to mail a postcard with landscapes.
You understand?
A little.
- Can you still make a photograph? - Who would be interested?
The brides from my island.
Not you?
No.
I don't have my camera anymore, anyway.
What? You lost it?
I sold it.
By the time you get to Canada, nothing will show.
When I refused to immigrate...
my father beat me black and blue.
I gathered up my belongings and took off for Constantinople.
My kid brother gave me his meager savings...
to buy Antonis some cherries and cigarettes.
But my father found out and came after me.
He caught up with me in the middle of a cornfield and finished me off.
He beat me... even though he loves me like crazy.
- Then? - He was desperate.
If I don't bring my brothers to America, they will be drafted.
They're only 12 and 16 years old. I raised them myself.
All of a sudden, Canada...
what do we know about them, Niki?
Just what they do for a living and their address.
How do we go to bed with a strange man?
Just rice, Heracles. It's the only thing my stomach can take.
Heracles takes care of me.
This is the only place where I enjoy buy to eat.
Captain...
if your proposition still holds and you can lend me a camera...
I take your portrait after dinner. - What changed your mind?
Things hard to resist.
Really? And who will you take after then?
Ugly men like Heracles from my crew?
I was thinking of taking the portrait of the ladies on 3rd class.
With their wedding veils on as well.
- But there are 700 of them. - 700 pairs of eyes.
Mr. Harris...
5 of my first cousins...
and 4 of my nieces were mail order brides.
You better show those women respect.
It's like snowing in the summer.
- Good morning. - Good morning.
"Good morning" in English.
My name is Norman Harris and...
I just wanted to thank you for allowing me this favor...
of taking your photographs.
It's... it's incredible the way you all look. It's...
very beautiful.
And...
you're all dresses, but it's gonna take some time.
Nicholas is my assistant, over there, and he'll...
help me photograph your beautiful hairdresses.
It's great. I love these flowers as well. It's great.
I know some of you are from different countries, and...
I'm trying to take the photograph with...
Good luck, sir.
Thank you. I need your good wishes.
If Nicholas gets bored of me, I might need of your English as well.
- Wearing black? - I don't need the photograph.
Niki...
please stay for the first photograph.
For luck.
Nicholas, let's do this.
Let's get going.
Right, do you want to be the first? Let's go. Sit down.
You can sit down. Relax.
Here you go.
0kay, you come here.
Like this. I want you to look down there, at the lens.
- Down the camera. - Katerina, 23 years old.
Katerina.
Very beautiful name. There you go.
0kay, beautiful picture. 0kay.
You smile. Smile.
Good.
Angeliki, 19 years old.
- Have you finished? - Yes. You liked?
Very nice.
- Very nice. - Good. I'll see you later.
- Hey. - Hello.
May I peak the Russian brides?
I'm not sure of that.
But I'm willing to pay...
for some negatives.
You can tell the American that they were misled.
Sorry, but I can't help you.
Sorry, but the American keeps them in his cabin.
Excuse me. Yelena, Russian. Give me her photograph, please?
I'm her best man and her guardian, and her husband is very correct.
I haven't photographed her bottom. There is nothing to fear.
I won't even allow you to photograph her face or half a face.
So, please, please, give me photographs.
- As soon as I develop them. - You have developed them.
- But if she herself did not refuse. - She's been taught to never say no.
- Well, I'll ask her. - It's not to her to say.
I mean, that's how the agency works.
Well, this is not how I work.
Well, let's not lose any hard over this.
There's somebody on board who will deal with it for me.
30 years younger.
Show them to the attendant.
- Tell him to pack. - I will, my Captain.
The Russians, leave them out, friend Norman.
Does their guardian forbid it?
I forbid it.
- Can you tell me why? - Money.
- What money? - Mr. Karaboulat is very particular.
But he's a regular costumer of the steaming company...
11 years now, without failing.
The Armenian women are enough.
And more than enough of that.
- Good morning. - Good morning.
Good morning.
I bought this one when I was planning a trip to Greece.
It's an English-Greek phrase book.
Read it the other way around. I'd like you to have it.
The sun is making your eyes shine.
What is he saying?
- He says he is hungry. - It's time for lunch. Let's go.
Your English is very good.
Wait for me, Haro.
Thank you.
From my island.
Black olives.
- "Samotrace"? - Samothrace.
What is your village?
Detroit.
- But my father was born in Ireland. - So you're not American-American.
Your mother was a mail order bride too?
No. No.
My father, he saw her scaling halibut.
It's a fish. She was scaling a fish one day on the market place...
and he saw her and he felt in love for her curly red hair.
I became a photographer cause I couldn't stand the smell of fish.
I wish I could show you some of the places I've been.
Minor things...
I think I know that song.
Up to the age of sixteen, I sang and danced a lot.
After that, finished.
You know, I've seen more than 50,000 palms in my life.
Adulterer's hands are dry, minister's are cold...
the hands of diplomats are like... like linen.
Let me see your palm.
I want to read your future.
- For free. - No need. I know mine.
So, what are you going to do about Yelena, the Russian woman?
I'm not in the mood right now.
Send her as a gift to the Turkish engineer.
Oh, don't go sullen right now, my friend Captain.
Thank God I have found first-class quality again.
You know...
in 1917, I had a batch of 11 women...
with big tits. In 1919, they only had the blue eyes...
and the little beauty spots.
And then, in 1920, voluptuous asses.
Now... now I have virgins.
With guarantee.
"0lga, sixteen years of age, resident of...
Gorlovka. Found to be anatomically virgin...
in 1922."
A little cunt of gold.
17 women. They'll pick up a shovel and dig the hole of 0klahoma.
But I have 6 who I destined for special employment.
Anyway, go easy on the photographer. Don't provoke him.
Here, Nicholas, take this.
- Take it to the lab. - Niki...
don't forget to do the Captain's jacket.
There's no film in the camera. I just want to see your face.
I'll rip off my buttons to watch you sew them back with your hands.
If you pay double.
Niki Douka, tell me something about yourself.
There is nothing special, Mr. Norman Harris.
Don't you have dreams?
Yes. A Singer machine.
- Nothing else? - Fabric.
- And? - And...
a lot of customers. - Is that all?
Yes, that is all.
I don't believe a word.
They all say:
"Niki do this, Niki do that...
Niki come, Niki go... Niki, you are the father of the family."
- Are you? - Yes, I am.
People like you make us appreciate life.
No. Not me. My father.
Like father, like daughter.
My father was a very funny man.
Mine, he was very vivid.
- Like a hurricane. - Like father, like son.
You made a joke.
Page 27. English proverb. Not a joke. In Greece, men make jokes.
You're on board now, you're not in Greece.
So you can say any joke you want.
"Yelena, from 0dessa".
- Why did you put me in the dark? - You'll see.
- I see nothing. - Easy, don't be in a hurry.
I am in a hurry. They're gonna look for me.
Just give me a minute.
I don't have a minute. I want to go.
Look.
See? It's magic.
In America, rich people paint their servants black, so they'll stand out.
- Will they paint us, too? - Don't be silly.
We'll be ladies. We'll wear hats and carry wallets of our own.
- 0ur own? - Sure.
Miss Kardaki...
I'd like to ask you.
Do you think we are marrying the right ones?
Right ones, wrong ones. Workers don't think about such things.
My father was very choosy with suitors.
This one was wrong, that one was no good.
So my time ran out. Now I marry off other people.
This is my tenth Transatlantic voyage.
Always for the same sacred purpose.
I speak from experience.
Especially for immigrants love is big trouble.
Close your eyes and dream.
A giant country.
Do you know how many men wear old shirts?
How many need new shirts? Millions!
So, my child...
sit yourself down and sew. Sew!
In ten years...
your tailor's shop in Chicago will become a small industry.
And one, and two, and three...
and four, and circle!
Very nice, my dear.
Thank you.
Transatlantic voyagers require dances and festivities...
to kill time. What I really long for is freighter...
with a crew of 20 men, my cook at least...
no passengers and be somewhere in the Indian 0cean.
Let's go to the upper deck to smell the ocean.
- Oh, yes. Very good idea. - Another time, Marion.
- Thank you. - Ladies and gentlemen...
it's time for a glass of ouzo.
You have my Maroussa's eyes.
In America, my first job...
is to send color pencils to my younger sister. She's 15.
She paints shell, wave...
- You miss her? - I love her.
There is a lake in Chicago.
My godmother say it is big as Aegean Sea.
It's good for me.
- Greek people die without blue. - Sometimes, Irish people too.
My grandmother...
always used to talk about...
the waves crashing against the rocks in Cork.
First, she would be nostalgic, then she would get melancholic.
When she was nostalgic, she cooked salty foods. And when melancholic...
she baked cakes.
Do you understand?
"Nostalgia". Greek word.
Melancholy?
"Melancolia".
"Niki, my darling, I thought about you all last night."
That's more or less how a love letter begins...
isn't it, Niki?
You've got such letters, right, Niki?
Nicholas just told me that you read them to Haro.
They're hers.
You've never got such letters?
Never.
Yelena.
He got another Russian girl up, last night.
When he brought her back, you could smell her perfume from a distance.
What if he comes for me tomorrow night?
The other one tomorrow night.
You really are taking your time?
For seven days now, you're still sewing, sewing, sewing.
Maybe the lady likes first class.
Sew it yourself.
What did you say to me?
- What did you say? - I said, sew it yourself.
Sew it myself?
0kay, here, I'll sew it myself.
0kay?
- Now, you sew it. - I'm not afraid of you.
I'm not Yelena.
Don't you ever talk that way to me.
0kay?
You're a bad man, sir.
You... you bitch!
You are no saint. You have a past...
and I'll find it out.
Niki?
- What's wrong? - So, how do you...
cook red mullet? In the rosemary sauce or do you...
bake it in the oven, wrapped in vine leaves?
I was just asking her about the Greek island recipes.
If you don't want to be humiliated, you just shut your mouth.
Niki!
What happened? Tell me.
It's okay.
She's Russian. I don't want to say who she is.
That Karaboulat is real filth. He threatened me.
I've heard about him. He has benefited hundreds of Russian women.
Miss Kardaki! Miss Kardaki, you must listen to me!
Look, my philosophy is different.
Five may fall into the wrong hands, but hundreds will be saved.
I know what I'm saying, and I have countless proof.
Photos of newborn babies...
invitations to christening receptions...
These transatlantic voyages are blessed.
I get discounts on the tickets. It wouldn't be wise to jeopardize that.
You mind your own business. We've only one more week left.
But we are not animals, neither us nor them.
Above all I don't want to scare my orphans! Period.
Go on inside, my child.
You've been out here for three hours.
Forget your worries and go get some sleep.
Before I mess you up good, I want a word with you.
Oh, bravo to our modest seamstress for spilling her guts.
A big bravo to the little squealer.
For our distinguished artist here, a cup of fragrant mountain tea.
What a performance! My God, you've got talent.
- Indeed I have. - You're a snake in the grasses.
- Indeed I am, thank you. - Bastard!
Oh, yeah, I am that too. I've never met my father, but my mother...
she had the balls of 10 men.
You know, three years ago...
some... some poor, sentimental fool denounced me to the police.
- And? - Yes. And, and...
you should've heard the screams of those...
four poor cunts as they dragged them back to hell.
- You're a son-of-a-bitch! - No, no.
Bachelors, immigrants or non-immigrants...
they appreciate me, you see?
Men need women, you know, like a foot needs a shoe.
You know, you can go without it, but it hurts.
Come to think of it, you're a bachelor too.
Do you fuck occasionally?
My mother's wedding dress.
I'll photograph the Russian brides with or without wedding dresses.
0lga. 0I...
Nicholas.
- Why don't you stand next to 0lga? - Me?
Yes, you. Come on. Don't waste my time.
Good.
Very nice.
I am not working on ships all my life.
So I can drown like my brother.
I'll open a restaurant.
"The Fragrant Mykonos".
That's why I'd like you to give me the payment you are holding.
You want the cash, now?
Yes.
Do you plan to open this business in New York?
In Piraeus.
You'll do the cooking?
0lga.
So, my information was correct.
Always going off on your own, all sweet talk and photographs.
So the lady needs the money on the spot!
Idiot! Letting a slut have all your money!
- She is not a slut, godfather. - What about your mother?
- You're kid and want to get hitched? - You are an old carrying on affairs.
- I am 17 and it's forbidden? - Shut up, you ingrate!
And you are like a son to me.
That photographer's to blame for all this!
You little shit!
Calling me an old man.
Same groom for five Russian girls.
Let's go.
I left a six-month-old baby behind!
We're gonna deal with it.
Be brave, Haro. We've got to look after the others now.
You had to go and tell everyone!
It was only a mistake, my dear Norman. It has happened before.
Believe me. I'll take care of it immediately.
With so many immigrants my employer has to deal, it's perfectly natural...
for to be... some kind...
of mix-up with the photographs. - 0lga is 16 years old!
She looks twenty.
- What about Yelena, from 0dessa? - I make sure you don't drown.
I am not an immigration agent.
- Or the vice-squad. - But immigration agencies...
are all the customers of King Alexander.
A couple of years ago, a Romanian, an excellent colleague...
sent photographs to some poor village girls.
But instead of being of prospective grooms, they were...
Norman, they were photographs of movie stars.
You son-of-a-bitch!
You're not getting away of...
You're crazy!
You better figure out a way to fix it for those five girls.
Or you'll never reach New York.
I lost Haro last night.
She wandered on the deck alone for hours.
I found her just before sunrise.
I can't stop thinking about you down there.
I don't feel like I belong up here anymore.
When we get to America, you will fly away.
You'll fly away like a bird.
I'll never see you again.
Would you like to see me again?
America is such a big place. People get lost.
And I'll fly by train. New York to Chicago.
Third-class ticket. US$ 7.
I want to thank you for putting the Georgian man in his place.
My soul was trembling for the little one, for 0lga.
You already missed dinner.
You'll miss dessert too.
I don't wanna go.
Such beautiful eyes you have!
What did you say?
I can smell the rain.
Saint Nicholas.
Saint Nicholas!
- Haro! I am right here. - Saint Nicholas!
Nicholas.
Nicholas, the steward.
But I have seen St. Nicholas!
- Where? - There.
- Haro, you are not making any sense. - I saw him I tell you!
- He's the patron saint of sailors. - I saw him last night, too.
- He came in my dream. - And what did he tell you?
I heard something like a chant. I heard Antonis chanting!
- Who's Antonis, Haro? - I heard him, I tell you!
Haro, either you are losing your mind or coming down with a fever.
- Go get yourself a compress. - It's because I have sinned!
I swore eternal love to Antonis.
Nicholas, hide me somewhere. I want to go back to Greece.
Even if I did hide you the day before we arrive...
we clean the ship so we don't get fined by the health inspectors.
- I'll beg the Captain. - That won't save you.
- You're hurt. - I fell.
Shall we go inside? Come on. I'll bring you some warm soup.
A lot of stars tonight.
In my trunk...
I drag a bridal dress...
which traveled the Atlantic many times. Back and forth...
1909 with my godmother...
1921...
and, now, 1922.
Very unlucky dress.
Back and forth, back and forth.
Niki, 25, Samothrace.
Niki...
Samothrace.
"Why won't your father believe that I won't remain a cripple?
- Maybe next year in..." - "In May...
we..." - "...we'll be together."
- How many letters are there? 30, 40. - Niki, don't envy me.
- I don't have one kiss of his. - Haro, let's not read anymore.
- It's not good. - We've read them all now.
That was the last one.
If only your Maroussa were alive to dance for you...
That goddess broke hearts.
Try to find another wife like that.
We're near deep in the worse.
I did not waste in the desert.
The sea, you know?
You look ahead, and suddenly you see nothing.
Fog.
Salonikie?
Play my Maroussa's favorite song.
They say that people from Samos are good people.
You'll have a peaceful life with Costas in Canada.
I'll write to you. Learn to read and write so you can write back.
Niki should be here. After all, she embroidered all these costumes.
You don't understand what kind of person she is. She's very proud.
When I was young, I was just like Niki.
Hard-working, stubborn, manly strength.
And I ended up living to the age of 60, with a cat.
"The cruel distance may divide...
old friends of mine.
The ties of friendship stay unbending...
unchanged by time."
I found this poem in the phrase book Norman gave me.
We'll learn English.
We'll work.
Six dollars a week!
- We'll have children. - Who'll never play in Thrace.
But they'll go to school.
And then, before you know it, Canada will be full of Greeks.
Greeks everywhere. You mark my words.
Haro, let's not jinx our fate.
We gave our word.
Even if we love others. Both you and I.
I know everything, Niki.
I've seen the way you look at the photographer.
- It's not enough. - And the way he looks at you.
- That's not enough either. - Yes, it is.
That's all there is. It's too late for me, but you have time.
Go away with him, Niki.
Go away with him and whatever happens, happens.
Ladies and gentlemen...
Greek night'll end with an arousing finale from Haro and her "oud".
Captain, if you've no objections, I'll bring her to the lounge.
Haro! Haro!
Haro!
No!
Niki!
Man overboard!
Get back! Get back! Quickly!
Abeam on the left!
The crew made...
every effort to save her.
But...
all attempts were in vain.
Venus will appear first.
Then Sirius.
Then 0rion.
And when it gets good and dark...
you can even see the tiny ones.
They all journey together towards the west.
All of them come from the East.
From the East to the west the start, too.
Like us.
Yes.
- If you want the "oud"... - Captain...
give me your word that every time the ship sails past the spot...
where we lost Haro, you'll get the cook to boil some wheat...
and sprinkle it in the ocean.
Done.
I love you.
- No. - I can't help it.
- Do not love me. - But I do!
- I am Greek. - So?
Stop!
In a few hours, we'll be in America.
Your tailor will be waiting for you.
- A stranger. - Prodromos is a very honest man.
How can my family deceive him once more? I can't do that to him.
- I don't understand. - I replace my sister, Eleni...
who could not stand America and came back.
I'm a substitute bride.
For God's sake, it's inhuman!
- How could you understand that? - I understand!
- Then don't love me! - How could I lose you now, Niki?
How could I forget you now? It's not possible anymore.
It cannot be.
- Understand? - Then help me.
Prodromos is waiting for the second time.
It's a matter of honor to my family.
If I come with you...
all my family will... will have a bad name.
No marriages for my sisters and cousins.
My uncle and my cousin Alexandra, all my family will be...
will be cursing on another.
I must go to Chicago. I must meet Prodromos. No, I must!
For the women of my family!
For six girls from Samothrace!
Too many "womans" depend on me! Too many "womans"!
- Wrong. - Right.
"Womens" is wrong. It's just "women".
Yes.
It's just "women".
What a sweet night.
Look at the stars. So beautiful, so...
miraculous.
You know, when I can't sleep, I like strolling along the deck...
singing Georgian songs.
Listen, my lady, you'll never forget him.
That will be your punishment.
It is not a punishment to remember of someone you love.
The punishment is to forget him.
Then...
I have been punished.
To hell with my godfather.
Norman.
Niki, my darling, I thought about you all last night.
You look beautiful.
- Is someone meeting you? - No.
Norman, my boy, get up the courage and go tell her goodbye.
Bye, Emine.
Good luck.
Goodbye. Goodbye. Nice to meet you.
- Bye. - Come on, let's go.
Captain. Why are you so distant?
It's over.
As soon as everyone has disembarked...
go to my cabin and let the kid out.
- Have him clean up the hold. - 0kay, Captain.
And tell him there is a present for him.
A hat from Norman Harris.
I want you to have these.
Your hair...
You love me, I know you do. I can see it in your eyes.
Oh, come with me.
Niki, don't follow him to Chicago.
You like to be alone. You always travel alone.
You do not need other people.
That's not true, Niki.
Niki, I love you.
"In less than a moment...
eyes will stare...
a lifetime may go by...
never to be forgotten."
I cannot translate.
Read my eyes.
You see?
We end here...
Norman.
- I wish we had her photograph. - Prodromos, you hold the flowers.
Since all of us have mustaches it will be difficult to recognize us.
- Her sister was confused, too. - How am I doing this twice?
- My God, with her sister. - Get a grip, brother.
Everything will be alright.
Take this.
It is Haro's bridal dress.
Thank you. Thank you very much.
I am Niki Douka.
It's late, Niki. Time to put away our scissors.
I've made soup. It will get cold.
You asked for a Greek wife who wasn't a nag, didn't you?
That's me.
I am not afraid of hard work. On the contrary.
In Smyrna, there was Saint Anna of the Rags who cured nags.
One tree outside the church Christians and Muslims would hang their cloth.
Somebody told me about it once.
Just so you don't say you've never received a love letter.
I felt in love with your hands...
that have been pricked a thousand time by the sewing needles.
And with your brown eyes.
So serious.
Norman...
Niki, we're from different worlds, you and I.
Worlds that met by chance...
worlds that are star-crossed...
that can never come together.
You're the beam that I'll miss forever.
An eye on "Society".
An eye on "Society" for you, sir?