IKONES and the GREEK FILM CENTER present
THE PHOTOGRAPH
Starring CHRISTOS TSANGAS and ARIS RETSOS
ZOZO ZARPA DESPINA TOMAZANI
CHRISTOS VALAVANIDIS MARINA DELIVORIA
YANNIS TOTSIKAS
STRATOS PACHIS ORESTE TSANAKIS
GIORGOS KALATSIS METAXIA DELIOU
KOSTAS MARKOPOULOS
Image ARIS STRAVOU ARNAUD DESPLECHIN
Music CHRISTODOULOS HALARIS
Lyrics YANNIS KAKOULIDIS
Song performed by ELIA FILIPPOU
Background and costume NICO MELETOPOULOS
Editor DELPHINE DESFONS
Sound editing ALEXIS PEZAS
Production managers FARID CHAOUCHE
NIKOS GIANNOPOULOS GIORGOS SAMIOTIS
Executive producer PATRICK GRANDPERRET
Screenplay and direction NICO PAPATAKIS
Castoria, September 1971
- I've finished. - Do the other shoe again.
As you wish, Mr. Costa.
I'm Soula Apostolou's son. I came to see Mr. Doukas.
Who's she?
A piece-worker for your boss.
- Did she send you? - Yes.
There's no work.
It's not about work.
He's not here. Wait outside if you like.
Elias? I know your mother.
Your mother told me you finished the army.
I don't know you. I came to see Mr. Doukas.
I know you have to be careful
after your army ordeal.
I'm glad you managed to get a passport.
It's best you leave.
Why do you want Doukas?
I want Gerasimos Jivas' address in Paris.
- Why? - To find work there.
But he's inhospitable.
He's my mother's only relative.
I forgot.
They say he's made money there.
He sends some to his parents every month.
Soon Doukas will go
to the bank for it.
Do you know him?
Yes.
Regards to your mother.
If the boss doesn't give you Jivas' address,
go to the Bonne-Nouvelle train station,
all the furriers are there.
They'll tell you.
Remember Bonne-Nouvelle!
It means "good news".
Mr. Doukas! One moment, please!
I'd like to know Gerasimos Jivas' address in Paris.
I'm going there to look for work.
You're the only person he trusts...
Please give me an introductory letter to him.
Are you joking? He's illiterate.
You scum, with your communist father!
Your mother would have starved without me!
Wife of a communist!
We're not communists here! We're capitalists!
Tell her that Gerasimos is in America.
But you're going to the bank to withdraw his money.
On your way!
Write no more lies
Make a fool of me no more
What a great and heavy burden
How sad!
My name is Joy...
The singer's photo was taken 20 years ago!
How sad!
My name is Joy...
What are you doing there?
What are you staring at?
Doukas told me to go to hell.
He wouldn't help
the son of a communist.
He said that you owed him everything...
and that Gerasimos has gone to America.
But he was on his way to the bank to withdraw
Jivas' monthly remittance.
Harilaos told me that.
Then it's true.
He abused me
under the sign "Greece for Christians".
It should be "Greece for Tyrants"
If we all become
Christians like Doukas,
it would be better to get out of here fast.
Tomorrow you'll go to Gerasimos' village.
But it's at the end of the earth!
Is Paris closer?
Go and ask his parents for their son's address.
They'll give it to you.
If he's gone to America, you'll go too.
Into the lion's den again?
Didn't I suffer enough in the army?
Better to be in a well-fed lion's den
than in a hungry one's.
It's the same everywhere.
You have no choice.
Do you know where the Jivas family live?
They've been dead for 2 years.
Go on!
This way.
- Your parents? - Yes.
Photos from the cemetery?
They're the graves of Maria and Costas Jivas,
buried in 1968.
Here are the death certificates.
Are they really dead?
They're buried.
Then Doukas is a grave-robber!
Gerasimos doesn't know.
Now I don't need an introductory letter.
I'll find him at Bonne-Nouvelle in Paris.
It means "good news".
You won't be bringing him good news
and that worries me.
I didn't kill them, mother.
I'll tell him Doukas is robbing him.
He'll trust me... I'll save him money.
You've been saving for years so I can go.
I'll pay you back.
I'll return in a Mercedes.
I'll show them who I am.
I'll send you my news through Stella.
You're from Adonis Doukas?
Yes. I just flew in.
Give me your order and go.
I've got important papers.
He knows where to send them. I don't believe you!
He'd go to prison for these.
I have to give them to you personally.
It's about your parents.
Let me in, you won't regret it.
Come in.
Leave your suitcase outside.
Gerasimos Jivas, I'm sorry to announce
the death of your parents in 1968.
Here are the death certificates.
Dirty liar! Thief! Get out of here!
I don't believe you!
I'm going to check this.
If you lied,
you'd better be gone when I return.
Come in.
What's the matter?
Are you sick?
I won't bother you to send money again.
What's your name?
Elias Apostolou. My father was your mother's cousin.
Come in.
Come in!
Leave your case there.
Sit down.
That's my photo.
Yes, take it.
I have no cognac, as is customary for funerals.
My mother sent some.
She knew you wouldn't have the necessities here.
Fate decided
I would bring you bad tidings.
I ask you not to hold it against me.
How could I?
I'm sorry you didn't come before they died...
that I didn't bury them...
with my own hands.
I'll never forgive myself.
I brought you photos
of your foster parents' graves.
You also adopted them... not by choice, but by love.
Love, which parents would wish
from their real children.
Foster parents are like volunteers in the army:
the first to sacrifice and to love.
I deserve no praise.
They gave me more than real parents could give.
Your devotion was that of a big-hearted person,
a heart filled with gratitude for those who loved you.
May they rest in peace. God bless their souls.
Who's the girl in the photo?
My sister.
She's 22 years old and unmarried.
What's her name?
Joy.
I tease her:
"How sad! Your name is Joy."
She sewed your mourning band.
How did you know Adonis was stealing from me?
I saw him go to the bank
to take your parents' money.
In the village I saw their graves.
You didn't come here just for that.
I came to find work.
Then you have no work permit.
What can you do?
I've been a waiter and a valet.
My mother didn't want me to learn the fur trade.
It takes time.
Tomorrow I'll get up early.
You can stay here.
Try to sleep.
Don't worry,
you'll manage.
Why'd I say you're my sister?
I'm surprised he believed it.
I called you Joy...
because you're joy itself...
like your song.
You're my lucky charm.
There's not enough work for two people.
I'll take you to Bonne-Nouvelle.
You'll find work there.
Until then you can stay and eat here.
Hello, Adonis...
It's serious.
Someone will call by.
Yes, Elias Apostolou.
He came for Jivas' address.
It's him! Did he find it?
I don't think so.
Spread rumors that he's not
to be trusted politically.
Whoever gives him work will be in trouble.
If he hangs around,
tell Michaelidis to fix him.
Do you know any jobs?
No, nothing.
I'm from Castoria too...
There's no work here.
I'm a furrier too...
Lucky I found your address.
I've got news from home.
- How's things? - Fine.
- What's your name? - Elias Apostolou.
Here's some advice.
Don't look for work here.
We've heard of you.
Go and find work somewhere else.
We've already got one traitor in the union...
Jivas.
Stop spying on us, alright?
He's called me twice this week.
Luckily he can call for free.
Yes, he's getting sharper.
He must have found work.
It's the second time you've called in a week.
And it's free.
It may not last.
You'll think of something.
- Did you find work? - Not yet.
Are you still with Gerasimos?
Yes, but it can't last.
Why?
I've got to hang up.
I'll call you later.
Courage, my son.
The lions have sharp teeth.
I told you so.
So no-one wanted to hire you?
Our compatriots' spirit of solidarity is admirable.
One of them forbade me to go there...
again.
He told me to find work in a factory.
Of course I'll go again.
I want to learn the fur trade.
But I don't want to burden you. I'll go away.
You can stay
until you find work.
I'm grateful. It's more difficult than I expected.
Does the name Apostolou mean anything to you?
Castor, attack them!
What happened?
They were three...
down at the station.
I tried my luck again...
but it ran out.
I made beans,
just like home.
To remind me of the army?
If you knew what hell the army was,
you'd try to make me forget it.
Why?
They beat me up.
And there's no escape in the army.
But that was nothing compared to the rest.
I was in solitary confinement for an extra 2 years.
I spoke with myself
to avoid going mad...
"Elias, when we get out
"we'll do this and that..."
I argued and played jokes on myself.
Why did they punish you?
My father was a communist.
But he died in 1948 when you were 3 years old.
I thought that once I left Greece,
my troubles would be over.
Are you a communist?
My mother never let me learn what that means,
just as she didn't want me to learn the fur trade.
She was right when she said:
"Wherever you go,
"you'll always be in the lion's den."
Since you came,
I've been doing a lot of thinking.
Let me ask you something.
Would you write a letter for me?
To your sister.
But there's no...
I mean... there's no possibility...
You don't want to?
I'm not worthy
because I'm illiterate?
But she doesn't know you.
She'll get to know me.
What do you want to say?
Tell her I love her...
and want to marry her.
When I first saw her photo,
it was as if no-one else
existed...
as if I'd only known her...
as if she was my friend, my mother,
my wife, my sister...
Since then she's always in my thoughts.
It torments me that I can't touch her.
I'm sure I'd recognise her voice.
She has a singer's voice.
Will you write to her?
It would be better
if you wrote.
But I'm illiterate.
I'd write it as if it were from you.
No. I'd never dare.
Tell her
that I'd like a family.
I'll teach you the trade and we'll open a business.
We'll all live here together.
I'll help you if you want your own home.
We'll have to tell the police
that you live here.
Madness has seized me again.
First I'm attacked for no reason,
then I'm trapped in this strange situation.
It's true, I lied.
But how could I imagine that he'd fall madly in love
with a photo?
Why should it happen to him?
The only person who's ever helped me?
Now he's in love with my sister.
I like him... I can't back out now.
I have to write the letters.
But how will her letters arrive?
Was it the name Joy he liked?
I can't have her refuse the marriage.
It wouldn't be logical
or humane.
But I can postpone it
by having her demand
a new house,
furniture...
Meanwhile there could be
an earthquake
or an atomic war.
Just repeat what I said. I'll explain later.
I'll receive a letter with an envelope addressed to you.
I'm to have it stamped
and send it back.
Right.
We have to tell the police
that I live here.
He'll say
that I'm a relative of his...
his future brother-in-law.
He'll marry my sister.
Those letters are supposed to be
from her.
You have no sister!
They won't know that.
I have to go.
Don't tell anyone about this.
Don't do anything silly.
Don't worry.
The Chief would like to see you.
Both of us?
No, just you.
What could he want?
Maybe someone complained about the dog.
Know what the Chief told me?
That those who want to screw things up
should do it in their own country.
I just want to become a furrier!
Someone has reported you as a dangerous terrorist.
They must be following you.
Adonis Doukas did this.
He's afraid I'll sue him,
but I won't.
Why not?
I'll explain another time.
It won't be easy
to get you a work permit.
My boss' daughter Caroline
will help us.
Now I'm right in the lion's jaws.
I'll put you out.
They gave me the permit.
When I saw all the people young, old, refugees,
all different races,
standing in line,
I felt my luck
had changed.
- I owe it all to you. - No, to Caroline.
Give me your hand.
- Why? - Don't ask!
Please, stop.
You could just use words.
I'm not a priest.
Priests save your soul after you're dead.
You saved my life!
I appreciate your gratitude, but that's enough.
It's time to start working.
There's a letter from Greece.
It must be for you.
It'll be Joy's reply.
It's from Joy.
Shall I read it to you?
Read it first and tell me
if it's good news.
It's not very good.
Do you want to hear it?
Read it to me.
"My dearest brother, we received your letter.
"We were so touched, we cried.
"How happy we were to learn
"that you found Gerasimos
"and that he is hospitable and generous,
"not egotistic or misanthropic.
"I was touched
"that he liked my photo,
"but very surprised to read about his feelings for me.
"It will take time
"to get used to the idea.
"I don't even know what he looks like.
"Not just his appearance,
"but his expression,
"I can't imagine what his house is like,
"Tell him I'm honoured by his affection.
"Mother and I hope
"you'll soon find work
"and not to be a burden to Gerasimos,
"who has treated you like a brother.
"Convey our deep gratitude to him.
"We kiss you...
"Joy".
You look disappointed. I warned you...
Joy is a loner...
like you.
I'm not disappointed.
Her reply is correct and honest.
She doesn't know me or the house in which I live.
We'll have to respond in our next letter.
Tell her that I don't want a dowry.
He's teaching me the trade.
I don't like it,
but if that's what you want...
Did you get the letter?
Yes.
I'll be sending you money soon,
but I need documents.
What for?
Evidence that you're my mother.
- It's on your passport. - It's not sufficient.
Whenever you get a letter,
do as you did the first time.
Just to prove I'm your mother?
To show that you need me to send you money.
Don't worry about me. Take care of yourself first.
With the letters you send,
I can renew my work permit.
They gave you one?
Yes.
Elias, you're abroad,
but I can't forget
that you used news of the dead
to conquer the world of the living.
You receive letters from a non-existent sister
and from a mother asking for money
when she has no need.
Be careful!
"Better to be in a well-fed lion's den."
You said that.
Do as I say... Don't be afraid.
I won't make more coats.
I'll reorganize my work to produce more.
Why?
You already work hard.
Look at this house...
at this face...
I'm ashamed to offer marriage
to your sister,
with a place like this.
Take a pen.
You'll find the right words...
She's only 22...
Ask her to wait for 4 months.
By then I'll have built a bathroom and a kitchen.
No! First ask her to describe the house she'd like
and I'll build it according to her taste.
No, it's not a trap! I see you smile...
She's free to accept or refuse
whenever she likes.
I'm thinking that if I were a woman
I'd marry you right now.
I'll write to Joy,
but you must dictate it.
Not yet. The next letter...
I'll build the new workshop here.
We only need the equipment to produce more.
"PS: You ask what style house I like...
"I would say modern.
"I dream of a large living room with a fireplace...
"dining room,
"bar, kitchen, on two levels."
Watch out! The roof's falling!
Are you hurt?
No. And you?
I'm fine.
It was a catastrophe.
What'll you do?
I'll leave it to the experts.
It'll be expensive.
I'll use the ecologists.
To fix your house?
They've fixed places far worse than mine.
It may not be Joy's style, but they're good architects.
We meet when we walk our dogs.
They have a tiny one called Bulldozer.
They've renovated many houses and they're not expensive.
We'll sleep in the workshop.
It's a huge job. We don't have the necessary equipment.
It'll be cheaper to pull it down and built a new one.
It's difficult, but possible.
What do you think, Roger?
No problem.
Geraud!
I remember your nickname.
We'll be back. We'll study it
and give you an estimate.
Tell us what you want.
Elias, my fiancée's brother will tell you.
He doesn't speak French,
but he'll make a plan.
It's the third time his fiancée has changed her mind.
Stop! It's not as she wants.
We'll have to begin again.
No... not good here... over there...
There.
It's 3 months since we finished the house.
The ecologists weren't cheap.
There's still the facade to finish.
It's Joy's fault for wanting so many expensive changes.
She's making a fool of you.
Repeat that.
She's overdoing it.
She must make up her mind now.
You can't wait forever.
No, I'm keeping her waiting.
Tell her I'm sorry.
You'll need another 6 months...
It's sheer madness.
You're trying to discourage me.
I don't understand you.
You help me, but you don't want me to succeed.
Maybe you don't want me for a brother-in-law.
You know I'll be honored and happy,
but I can't watch you suffering...
it makes me sick
I'm ashamed of Joy.
You're not responsible.
I'm not a child,
although I'm in love with your sister.
I want us to be together, even at the cost of my life.
I behave like this, because I'm jealous of Joy.
Alright. Send her the brochures
so she can choose the furniture.
Help! Help!
Elias, bring the keys! It's on fire!
That's it!
Money for the new furniture...
the burnt furs that have to be replaced...
his terror of being burnt alive...
If he doesn't give up after all that, what more can I do?
If it weren't for you, I'd be burnt alive.
But where were you?
I shouted, screamed... it was a nightmare.
I thought I heard footsteps outside,
so I went down to the street.
Then I heard you shouting...
I ran like mad. What happened?
I was having a rest.
The dog woke you?
No, a burning smell.
Why didn't the dog bark?
He disappeared.
Impossible!
I searched everywhere.
Maybe he was frightened.
He'll turn up again...
unless he was stolen.
By Christian?
I say he lit the fire too.
The furniture will have to wait.
The brochures came today...
like this!
Maybe they thought
there was money inside
or it's disguised censorship.
"I have put a note in front of the articles
"that I like."
How are you?
I'm alright.
You're having bad luck lately.
Is it true you're getting married?
So you'll become enslaved?
Yes, perhaps in summer.
Is the lucky girl Greek?
Yes, but I can't give you details yet.
If you give me your fiancée's address, I'll visit her.
I'll be at the wedding.
I came to tell you
that Adonis telephoned.
He didn't reply to my letters.
Recently he called me at the Consulate...
"Tell Gerasimos Jivas
"that the money he request
"is as his disposal whenever he wishes.
"He sent it to build a chapel in his parent's memory.
"How dare he suggest I concealed their death
"when I've been his unpaid errand boy for 20 years!
"That will teach me to help people!"
I'll give you my future wife's address
and Adonis can give her the money if I'm delayed here.
Otherwise I'll collect it myself.
I must go now. Do you need anything?
No thanks.
I'll take the brochures, to calculate prices.
You'll have some idea of the cost then.
Good idea.
Try to rest tonight.
No, I'm not afraid of madness...
On the contrary...
I want its sweetness and innocence to help me forget.
Our misery has condemned us to eternal bondage.
He and I are tied hand and foot, with no escape.
My lie will be discovered this summer.
Then he will die...
I can't live after that.
His love for Joy made me love him...
and he loves me... he loves the delusion of Joy in me.
But time is short.
The house must be furnished.
Then the marriage will take place in Perivoli.
I'll force him to send me to Castoria to find Joy
and bring her to him...
Then she and I will disappear.
Now I must choose the furniture.
"Your love awakened my own...
"I long for you to carry me
"to my bridal bed in Paris.
"I can't go on...
"my tears will oblige me
"to begin again."
Look... she really cried.
"Your future wife, Joy."
What's the matter, Gerasimos?
How dare you ask that?
How can I...
marry far from my country?
For years I worked like a slave
just to marry a girl in my village church.
It's shameful... inhuman!
Do you understand?
Or are you like the others...
ready to stab me in the back?
You never said the marriage should be in Perivoli.
- You're a liar! - I'm not.
You are! You lied to me!
It's the second time you've reminded me of the army...
the first was with the beans.
Just as in the army, I felt terrible injustice
and only wished you would kill me.
Believe me.
Joy was trying to please you.
I know my sister.
She'd marry you in a desert.
I'll write to her tonight,
you'll have the reply soon.
You must send her your photo.
You promised to.
Hello Elias.
Shall I call your mother?
No, it's you I want.
I want you
to do something for me.
But don't mention it to my mother.
I want to play a birthday joke
on Gerasimos.
And I need you to send him a telegram.
"Received photo.
"Dazzled by expression, character,
"want to caress your face,
"lips, hair, throat.
"Can't wait to become Mrs. Jivas,
"to be one with you.
"Will await you at Perivoli.
"My love. Joy"
Thank you, Elias.
I'll put on Joy's favourite song...
She was wild about it before I left.
It's also called "Joy".
Remember I said
Joy had a beautiful voice?
But you've never heard it!
I prefer to discover her myself.
Her gaze, walk, appearance...
I'd recognize her voice from thousands...
I hear it every day.
If it wasn't for the singer, I'd hear it now.
Aren't their voices alike?
I hear her speaking, not singing.
I'm not in love with Callas.
Pity, we should have compared the voices.
Igoumenitsa, August 1974
I must speak to her... it's urgent.
Tell mother to be there tomorrow at 11.
She can't.
She's seriously ill.
Can you tell her something?
What?
Tell her...
if Gerasimos is surprised not to see Joy...
Who's Joy? Does your mother know her?
Your sister? You told Gerasimos?
Have you gone mad?
She must tell Gerasimos that Joy's just died.
Your mother's bedridden. Stop your endless joking.
She's seriously ill. Be more sensible!
Elias! Can you hear me?
The time has finally come.
See that poster?
Do you know her?
You don't recognize her?
Should I? Who is it? Soraya? Sophia Loren?
She sings your wife's song.
Don't they look alike?
As a mother resembles a daughter.
What a day to die!
Don't talk about death on such a beautiful day.
I was talking about the slogans being pulled down.
Adonis gave me the brush-off under one of those,
praising "Greece for Greek Christians".
I told my mother then:
"If all Christians loved their neighbour
"like him,
"it would be better to leave the country quickly."
Now those people are being kicked out
and I'm returning home.
Now the only thing I'm sure of
is that love for our neighbour is not enough,
for Gerasimos or anyone else.
When God himself
does not allow us to offer it...
when he refuses to write it in our destiny.
There are many people like me
whose destiny has been written off
as long as we live.
I believe you're jealous of Joy.
You're sulky and depressed
as if we were going to a funeral.
Yes, I have these sad thoughts,
when I should be optimistic...
when triumphal arches no longer hide the sun...
That's why I say "What a day to die".
We're late.
We made a mistake. Turn back!
Turn left.
Right.
Go straight.
I told you to go right.
We'll have to turn back.
He'll get himself killed!
We're late! Pass them!
Pass them! Now!
We're almost there.
Give me a rock.
I killed him for love.
Gerasimos Jivas is gone...
Joy within his grasp...
and before the reality of his dream kills him horribly.
I hope my action will be heeded by those who leave their country
for a destiny which is not theirs
and which, like Gerasimos and I, they endlessly pursue,
without ever attaining.
Subtitles: Paul J. MEMMI & Nico PAPATAKIS
Subtitling: Eclair Group