LITTLE ENGLAND
Let a love...
...that does not save...
...find me alone...
One night, one dawn...
One night, one dawn.
Our love...
...a sea...
...a tempest in the soul...
Love...
...a myriad waves...
...and it all begins again...
BASED ON THE NOVEL
BY IOANNA KARYSTIANI
A FILM BY
PANTELIS VOULGARIS
There they are! They're here!
You can see them!
ANDROS 1930
Where's Maritsa?
Didn't she hear the siren?
You can see it!
They're probably looking at us
too, through their binoculars.
Till we meet again, Yannis!
It's the OSTRIA
on its way to Piraeus.
Odessa, 2nd May 1930.
My beloved Orsa...
My uncle Emilios tells no one
that he gives you my letters.
I've taught him well.
So, don't be afraid.
We'll be in Piraeus in mid-May.
We unload and 3-4 days later
we head for Andros. I can't wait.
I hope you feel the same way
about seeing me.
When I left, you were 17
and now you're 20.
Spyros Maltabes.
For you.
Orsa, the Ostria we'll be sailing off
again in two months.
Spyros, will we be able to see
each other many more times?
As you long as you keep finding
good excuses!
I'll tell them I'm going
to Grandma Orsa.
I'll sit with her
for fifteen minutes or so...
...and after that...
Las senales del alma...
You could even catch
the radio signals of the souls...
Now who will I tell about the
heartache that is gnawing at me?
Same yearning...
You in Chile, me in Buenos Aires.
Savvas, you may be rotting
in the Atlantic...
...but I'm not wasting
my time either.
The two-story house is
finished. Their dowry.
It's time I married them off.
Dry land, Nikiforos...
Foreign soil...
...but still soil...
Moscha!
Moscha!
Write up the receipts,
all the expenses...
...and send them to your father.
Tomorrow at the latest.
Dad will be so worried...
...how much you paid
for the teacups...
...how much for the colanders,
the soaps...
Use the thinnest paper. We don't
want to pay a fortune in stamps.
Or worry about the weight
of feeling either...
Karaoulanis...
Sofas for upstairs and
sofas for downstairs.
Two silver tureens...
Lace curtains for upstairs and
lace curtains for downstairs.
I'll be equally fair to both of you,
both of you.
Karaoulanis...
One for the upstairs house,
one for the downstairs house.
Don't forget two pairs
of binoculars as well...
For us to look through them...
...as we grow old and rusty...
...like the railings of the balcony.
Recipient: Savvas Saltaferos,
Captain.
Ship: SS PENELOPE, Argentina.
Ready...
Yesterday we had the memorial
service for the radio operator...
...who worked with my father.
- I was there.
But we shouldn't be talking
about such things now.
I can't bear the thought
that men are lost at sea...
...far away...
...and their remains
never return to Andros.
His grave here is empty.
Did they bury him in Argentina?
In Uruguay?
He was lucky to die near land.
The Maltabes men, grandfather,
father, uncles...
...we drown in the middle
of the ocean.
We like it there.
Don't you talk that way...
Don't you talk that way...
What with the shipwrecks...
...what with the diseases that
suddenly break out at sea.
I drive a hard bargain
with the Grim Reaper.
- I'm not afraid.
- But I am.
Anyone who drowned...
...repented...
I fell in love at 12,
got engaged at 13...
...got married at 14,
was widowed at 15.
The SS MAROUSIO sank
with all hands on board.
That's why I can
no longer look at the sea.
That's why I never eat fish.
I can't get it out of my head that
they may have devoured Vangelis.
It's not the only one.
I embroider
all the island's shipwrecks.
How can you bear it?
You shouldn't do it any more.
I can't.
I don't want to...
...abandon plaintive souls?
- Well, I do!
I want everything I can't have...
Everything they won't let me have.
Katerina...
- I want his initials, you know whose.
- Moscha!
I want you to embroider them
for me on a handkerchief.
- I can't do that.
- You'll get half a little sovereign.
No.
He's a foreigner, Moscha...
And he's not a seaman...
That's why I've set my sights
on him.
Spyros...
We're having a soiree
at the lighthouse keeper's...
And you took the rum too...
Cuban.
It's the best way to get drunk...
I know... I know...
After the third glass I'll be...
...in Vera Cruz!
After the fifth?
Vera Cruz is just fine, boy...
Uncle Emilios, why don't you come
with us on one last journey...
...for old times sake...
The sea rejected me.
Willy-nilly...
- It threw me up.
- Yes... the Bay of Biscay.
We won't be crossing
the Bay of Biscay.
I cross the Bay of Biscay
every night...
...in my sleep...
...tied with ropes...
...all of us tied...
...and the waves untie them and
sweep the 16-year old kid away.
Did you go... to the five?
Every afternoon... late.
I tell them...
...good evening.
Let a love that does not save...
...finds me alone.
One night, one dawn...
Shoulder to waist 48.
One night, one dawn.
Our love a sea...
I'll have it ready for you
next Saturday.
...a tempest in the soul...
Love a myriad waves...
...and it all begins again.
Vivika!
Run along and water the dahlias,
my child.
So, what were we saying, Mouraina?
Ah, yes... the man's cock
was like a mainmast...
...before he left.
If he's horny now, it's other women's
panties he'll be dirtying.
Just like Nikiforos,
God rest his soul. A bigamist.
He had a second wife in Chile
and two Chilean daughters...
...with the same names
of his daughters here.
You mean Tassoula and Vangelio?
Tassoula and Vangelio in Chile?
Did Savvas write you
about it, Mina?
He never writes about such things
to me, Mouraina.
It's Nikiforos' widow herself who
complained about it to my face.
I saved the best lemon orchard
for you. Sixty trees.
For you, only the biggest bargains,
for the others, the leftovers.
But we had agreed 18 pounds.
15 or I leave.
We'll sign the deed the day
after tomorrow. St. Marina's Day.
God bless investments, eh?
The day after tomorrow,
on St. Marina's Day.
Calm down, Mina, I've got
another windfall for you.
Rock fish, red mullet, bogue,
sea bream, red snapper!
Nikos Vatokouzis. Unmarried.
A captain at 32.
Owns half shares in two steamboats.
And he studied mathematics.
He didn't graduate though...
His governess Annezio is the
most loyal and faithful servant...
...in all of Andros.
And the deafest.
And what about his house?
Isn't it one of the most beautiful
residences in the city?
We've got a house too, Kourmoulis.
His late mother lent you
the money for the plot.
I keep all my old records.
She also stood by me
on other occasions.
Always open-handed.
Now you're talking.
Peach blossoms on his sides...
...she had said to me, in terror.
It was the rashes of syphilis...
her husband's.
Then... he went blind, crazy...
And then, he kicked the bucket.
The son is clean.
Postman!
Letters!
From Brazil!
From Canada!
From Poland!
Argentina! Panama!
Australia!
That's your color.
Cypress green.
I'm leaving tomorrow.
When I return I'll be a captain.
And we'll get married
the very same day.
And what revelry there'll be...
...with dulcimers and lutes...
The cave in the rock...
The cypress trees...
...the little bridge...
The Maltabes Circle!
That's what I named it.
For as long as you're away I'll come
to our places alone and remember.
No jasmine today?
Their fragrance is best suited
to the dusk...
...the night...
I'll plant ten in our flowerbeds.
We'll stay awake all night
and breathe them in.
We'll stay awake all night
and breathe them in.
Wait for me, eh?
Wait for me!
- The valerian root didn't work.
- No good for you either?
Then, my dear, let's try something
more potent... Veronal.
Have you ever prescribed Salvarsan
for Nikos Vatokouzis?
No.
Bismuth! Mercury? lodine?
No.
No.
Tell me, Resvanis...
...this isn't a matter
of doctor-patient confidentiality?
No, Mina, because I realize
what it's all about.
I'm not a venereologist. I'm a GP.
But based on timelines
and the records I keep...
...I believe Vatokouzis' son
was conceived...
...2 years before the old man, God
rest his soul, contracted the disease.
Music lovers of Andros.
This evening Miss Hexadaktylou
will be giving a piano recital.
Don't miss the musical feast
with European melodies!
165 postcards.
My pupils don't forget me.
And Mikes' pupils loved him.
Your attention please!
At 9:00 this evening...
I'm a literature teacher
by profession.
I'm still a schoolgirl
by disposition.
Go on, tell me...
Who is he?
Like an avalanche in the Alps!
Ah! An off-topic answer.
I'll give you a D!
He gave me an A.
But what am I saying?
He must be a seaman. What else?
Voyages, oceans,
thousands of miles...
The blue flows
and we flow with it.
So, who is he?
Name and surname.
- I'd rather not say.
- He isn't married, is he?
No!
No!
You've always been such
a one for secrets...
You feed on them,
you're bewitched by them.
I felt my heart burst open
like a pomegranate...
...without a sound...
...and the little rubies
forming arcs in the air...
...stumbling over my shoulders...
...leaping on the cobbled streets
like fireflies.
Go on...
He looks at me and I'm on fire...
...like a little piece of coal
in an incense burner.
He just looks at you?
Nana...
...a man's fingers are heavy.
They just touch you
and you turn to stone.
He must be sailing the Cape Verde
as we speak.
And you came at his behest
ask for the hand of my Orsa...
...who is, by general consent...
...10-15 kilos short of
being a true Aphrodite!
See here Emilios, your nephew
has yet to make his fortune.
He's a second mate.
There are captains who have asked me
for her hand in marriage.
Spyros will be a captain too,
before he turns 30.
Will be...
He doesn't even have his own house.
- He will have.
- Will have...
He's a hard worker.
Quick on the uptake.
Outgoing...
I raised him...
...since he was five.
A governess.
Knee deep in pigeon shit.
Captain Savvas respects those
who make a living at sea.
He values good seamen.
You should ask his opinion.
He commands his ship.
I command the household.
You never know what the future
holds for a seaman, Emilios.
I must ensure my daughter's security.
A life without money
is a life without joy.
Don't tell me...
Don't tell me they have feelings
for each other!
Don't tell me your charmer nephew
has mistaken my daughter...
...for a harbor whore?
We're adults now.
We know the sorrows every house has.
Mina... a heavy purse
isn't everything.
There are a lot of sacred things
involved. My hands are tied.
I owe a soul a debt of gratitude.
And!
Katina, Kiki, Moscha and Marie!
The 4-member KKMM sorority!
Katina, Kiki, Moscha, Marie...
We'll be together for all eternity!
Here's a new one.
Oh Andros, my little island
in the sea...
A musty, dismal prison
you are to me.
Great and famous you'll never be.
An empty fart for all eternity!
Such a tiny place and they went and
christened it "Little England"!
"Little England" indeed! No relation
to the real England I'm sure.
- Well there are a lot of boats!
- And two-bit snobs...
...who put on lordly airs and
dream of riches and sea empires.
But there are also
good-looking shipwrights.
What are you supposed to do
with a shipwright? Frame him?
Neither captain, nor engineer,
nor boatswain. Never!
- Orsa!
- Where?
- Over there!
- Not a word about David.
Only you lot know about it and
Katerina, the embroiderer...
...who won't breathe a word.
- Your sister?
She doesn't let me in on her secrets,
I don't let her in on mine.
She's always hiding behind the tulle
of her mosquito net...
...or talking to herself
under the jasmine.
My, my what's the matter
with Daddy's pet?
- Jealous again?
- I get so furious!
In every one of his letters
he writes.
"Don't let Orsa have her hair cut".
It's always Orsa this and Orsa that.
Spyros...
...my dear boy.
I don't have the heart
to upset you.
But the news is not good.
I failed to get
her mother to say "yes".
Madame Mina is after wealth
and riches.
Spyros, my lad...
Her mother's reply was a curt "No".
Our poverty is to blame.
Clench your heart and don't let your
bitterness get the better of you.
Orsa!
Did you see the Wassermann Test?
Stamped and certified.
And he's ordered your bridal gown
from a Parisian fashion house!
- He can give it to someone else!
- Generous! A gentleman.
You're the lucky one and you don't
throw away such good fortune.
When did you plan everything?
First I investigated.
I thought of everything.
- Except for one thing!
- What?
Why did you say "yes"
without asking me?
I know what I'm doing.
What if I have feelings
for someone else?
Do you?
What am I to you?
A field... to be sold
on St Savvas Day?
It's all settled.
We're not going to lose face.
You're hard...
...as hard as stone.
Come on, my boy.
I'd watch her from a distance.
She hesitated...
- I thought she'd refuse because of...
- Hush!
Here, here!
Here's where you should live.
It will happen eventually.
For now it's whatever Orsa wants.
I'll wait on your lady all day.
But at night I'll come back here.
I want my own walls.
Congratulations!
May you live to a ripe old age,
healthy and in love!
And to our little Moschoula's.
What an aristocratic bridegroom!
Hexadaktylou!
Start playing.
David Bradley, English teacher.
If only my son were here,
he would be so proud of you!
Well, he's not here...
Granny...
Ah, the sea...
Andros, 27 December 1930.
It's better you weren't here, Daddy.
The island was covered with
a blanket of snow...
...and it looked aristocratic and rare
like the postcards you sent us...
...from frozen Archangel.
Congratulations!
May it be your turn next, girls!
It's much better for women...
...not to marry the man they love...
...because then when he starts
straying...
...the pain won't be so great.
Don't touch me tonight.
May it be our turn soon, the seven
unmarried men aboard the ship.
- From your sister's wedding?
- My godmother, Annezio, sent them.
From the wedding of her master
Nikos Vatokouzis.
- Who did he marry?
- Orsa Saltaferou.
He's covered her with gold.
You were going to walk around
the Maltabes Circle...
Liar!
An unlucky house...
It brought sorrow...
You'll banish it, Orsa.
How?
The old shadows persist...
I can feel them.
She built the other house for us.
If I leave now she'll be furious.
Maybe later, when Moscha
gets married too.
You can't live without your Mama.
Saint Basil is on his way...
...from Caesarea.
Bearing incense and a candle...
...paper and pen.
The pen wrote and the paper...
Mina...
...in China, in Japan,
in Manchuria...
...we have revolutions.
The ports there are dangerous.
Your Savvas himself requested it both
from my son in London and myself.
He wants to work only in the Atlantic
a quiet trade, you know...
Curacao, Paramaribo, Necochea,
Suerte and back.
My late husband taught me well.
Even admitted
I was sharper than him.
- So, Savvas...
- I'm here about Moscha.
Moscha?
- David.
- David.
I found it in the hatbox
where she keeps her combs.
Good evening to you my lords,
here to celebrate...
I brought him here as an act of
charity for the seamen's children.
So that they learn fluent English.
And he is penniless...
...hungry...
...with sickly ribs you can see
through his shirt.
He's someone who paints bulls,
graves, carcasses...
...the wounded seal...
...who tries to turn the heads
of silly schoolgirls, the pervert!
Who dares to look
at the women here!
- David?
- David.
You have the means.
Send him packing.
- I'll bring another Englishman.
- Bring an Englishwoman.
See that you find her a husband.
You sent him away! You!
I did what I had to do.
You didn't think I was going to let
you starve with him in the fog.
Haven't you ever been in love?
Is that what you think?
Well I've been hurt too.
I've been hurt and I know.
That's the way life is.
Love doesn't last long
but the pain it brings does...
At least give me back
his photograph.
You think I have it? What would I do
with it? Look at his stupid face...
The penniless, starving
good-for-nothing!
You stole it!
It's all your fault!
It's London you wanted so badly...
Mama, I hate you!
I don't want your house or you.
I'm getting out of here.
Poor Moscha...
You're heartless!
Insensitive!
A viper!
From our offices in Piraeus.
A charter-party?
A boy.
Congratulations, Captain Nikos.
Congratulations, Captain Nikos.
We'll be drinking beer today.
Congratulations.
Iron deficiency due to breast-
feeding anorexia, insomnia.
These things happen, but you did
well to bring her to Athens.
We have more means at our disposal.
In a month our fair lady
will be as right as rain.
Creams and rice puddings.
Delivery.
Stefanos got a car.
As soon as he got his driver's
license, he bought a car.
You look just fine, Philip...
Next week he's taking us
all to Phaliron.
I'm sorry.
For five whole months
she breastfed the baby...
...and she fainted while rubbing
her heels with a pumice stone.
Please collect the thermometers.
Our baby's in good hands.
Moscha is crazy about our young
Savvas. She writes us every day.
What she fed him, where
she took him for a walk...
...what she sang to him.
You get the photographs.
I'm sorry.
I'm the one who's sorry.
I've just come for the day.
I can't escort you to Andros.
Problems. Damage to a ship's
structure under the waterline.
But I won't bother you
with such things.
Let's see when I'll be able to hold
our son tightly in my arms.
I've missed Andros.
I miss my son like crazy,
and the island.
Welcome to our Andros!
Get your luggage and make room...
...to those who are getting ready
to depart.
People of Andros, get your
ticket and bon voyage!
My love, my Savvas, my child!
My beauty!
Everything will be alright...
Where's your Daddy, Savvas?
Where's your Daddy, sweetheart?
You're all right. You're fine.
You have your color back.
May you always be in the best
of health, Mrs. Vatokouzi.
- Where's Moscha?
- They're coming.
Who's coming?
Moscha and her fianc.
Her fianc?
When did she get engaged?
The day before yesterday. We had
no time to write to you about it.
- Who's she engaged to?
- A captain.
The ship for Tinos, Syros, Piraeus
sails in an hour! Hurry!
Orsa!
My ring...
He asked for my hand ten days ago.
"I'm a captain now and I make
that much", he told the shrew.
The Hadoulideses gave him
a 15% share in a new steamship.
Because it seems he saved some
expensive cargo for them...
...from tornadoes...
He put almost two kilos
of gold earrings and bracelets...
...on the table in front of her.
For little Moscha, he said.
- In other words, for me.
- I know you're little Moscha.
What did Mama say?
Did she say yes right away?
Of course.
She was scared I might elope
with some foreigner, you see.
Orsa, with Spyros, I forgot that
dreadful Englishman in no time!
Erased him from memory.
Taking off without even
a "goodbye little Moscha"!
Did he send Emilios
to arrange the match?
Spyros himself came!
In other words... he loves you?
What else?
- Do you love him too?
- He deserves to be loved!
Isn't he gorgeous?
Have you noticed his eyes?
They sparkle so!
All the girls are jealous of me.
They even came up with some lyrics.
Moscha, little Moscha, a thousand
beauty marks on your back so white...
...for Maltabes to kiss all night.
And my God...
...how he kisses!
Orsa...
You love Nikos, right?
He's a good man.
That's not what I asked.
I asked if you love him.
He's my husband.
With the most amazing hands
in the world!
Can't stop looking at them...
Large and small veins
like rivers and streams...
Like a map of... Rio de la Plata!
- My brother-in-law, after Spyros...
- Moscha!
We're late.
We're off to book the dulcimer
and lute players.
I'm getting married.
Moscha and the scent of cinnamon.
A girl fit for a King!
Little Moscha!
Your health, Moscha.
Long live the bride and groom.
A solid marriage.
Come on, Captain.
Congratulations. Congratulations!
May you have fine offspring!
Next dance, let's go!
Captain's wives, my daughters!
- And dessert.
- Lovely! May your turn be next.
Thank you very much.
Yours too, sweetie.
Come on, Uncle Emilios, cheer up!
For your little Moscha.
I had eleven dances with him.
And you, not a single one.
What will he think? You're acting
as though you can't stand him.
- Me?
- No, me!
My little Moscha!
Aye aye, Captain.
You're drunk, eh?
Your kisses made me drunk.
I want more and more
until the morning.
No! Leave the windows open!
For as long as I'm here,
I want to breathe in the Aegean.
Single plank flooring.
24 single cypress boards...
...no mud between them to drown
out the sound of footsteps...
...and the noise
of everyday housework.
Your mother spent money
on fancy doorknobs, fancy tiles...
...fancy balcony railings,
but scrimped on the ceiling.
Let's fix it.
Now that we can afford it,
Mr. Halas.
But how? Tear up the whole house?
No matter how much you pay me...
...single boards don't become
double boards.
Good-for-nothing carpenter.
Murderer...
In Andros mattresses are only
dented on one side... the woman's.
They come and go like visitors.
When Artemis comes it's as though
my whole schedule is disrupted.
The children are very shy with him.
He's a stranger in his own house.
Say, Mina. It looks as if Savvas has
forgotten the way back to Andros...
Something, something
must have happened.
What happened is that
which happens to all of us.
Married almost 30 years...
...and I still haven't worn out
a pair of sheets with him.
Your daughters, your grandson...
they are all well?
Moscha will be giving birth
any time now.
And your sons-in-law,
they are well too?
One left, the other's coming.
Hello Savvas.
Look...
Savvas, it's your Daddy!
It's your Daddy!
It's true!
Wind it up.
Can you wind it up?
Shall I show you how?
Go away!
- Savvas!
- Take it easy.
Shall I give you a kiss?
Will you give me a kiss
now I showed you?
It was washed up by the sea.
You're the gift of my life.
How about it? Shall we move?
You must have gotten over
your old fear by now...
Why not your mother here...
...and we move to the other house?
We'll be by ourselves.
Not by ourselves... by myself...
...in those rooms...
...by myself.
Between those walls that...
...by myself...
...since you men are always away.
Yokohama, Japan, 12 March 1937.
My dearest Moscha.
Our household is constantly
on my mind. Are you all well?
Before I open each one
of your letters...
...just to be on the safe side,
I make the sign of the cross.
I hope both you and your sister
loved the exotic kimonos.
I don't think Spyros...
...cheats on me
with Japanese women.
With Polish women, Englishwomen.
I rule it out.
When he comes home he has such
longing for a female body... for me.
He undresses me and takes me in his
arms and kisses me and squeezes me...
...on the lips, my breasts,
my legs... with such passion...
...such passion.
He can't get enough of me.
It's freezing!
You're burning up with fever.
Spyros and Moscha, Miltos-Marie.
Louis-Katina, Giannis-Kiki.
From my tangerine tree.
It's their photographs we married.
And they, ours.
Time goes by with photographs.
1932, a memento from the christening
of Savvas junior.
1934, our Christina in the baptismal
font at the church of Aghios Giorgis.
1934...
...a memento naturally from the
1st birthday of your niece Mersina.
A letter dated the day
before yesterday.
"My dearest Spyros, our Christina.
A little doll with her doll.
Our daughter adores unripe damsons
and, like you, meatballs... "
But how would he know about it?
Today you say goodbye to me
and to Argentina.
That was it...
I entered like a thief...
...for two hours...
...that was it...
So that the child remembers them.
He's riding round the port
on his bicycle.
He didn't want you to kiss him
for the last time.
That's life Angelita.
- That's life.
- That's life. I understand.
You must go back home.
I must.
It looks as if war will break out.
Your shirts. Your things.
Everything you had in the house.
Now that they saw me on the ship...
...tongues will wag anyway...
I want you to stay here.
I want to leave alone...
...and count the steps
as I go down...
Angelita...
The keys.
You're not coming back.
You're not coming back
to our house.
It's yours.
The house is yours.
The deed.
They brought it to me
late yesterday.
You've also grown old
with me, my dear.
It was nice.
It was nice.
Turn up the volume!
So the people opposite
can hear too!
Orsa!
Come upstairs quickly!
Spyros is here!
My little Christina!
The money's adding up.
For the big step.
What sort of step?
Step by step with my girlfriends.
The bountiful seas!
You mean a house in Athens?
In Piraeus?
Hello, sister-in-law.
It's 10 o'clock.
Time for bed!
That's all I care about.
Will you stop it!
Go to bed!
At once!
That's more like it.
Andros, with your jasmine...
...I wouldn't change you
for anything.
Yes, but you'll be leaving again.
You like the high seas, Captain.
Your words.
A fire in red...
A fire in red!
A fire in red!
A fire in red.
I had it sewn for you...
for you...
I had it sewn for you.
I had it sewn for you.
I stay awake all night
and I don't breathe.
I stay awake all night
and I don't breathe...
My girl! My girl!
Wipe her forehead. She's
drenched in perspiration.
Push, Orsa, sweetheart.
Come on, be patient.
The water's ready.
I'm going to boil some more.
- Midwife, give us a hand.
- Annezio, boil the cloths.
Mersina, go to your godmother.
Christina! Go play with her.
I need four towels.
The water's ready.
I'm boiling more.
Come on, Orsa! You've done
this before, my girl.
Wipe her brow. She's sweating.
Come on, girl.
You've had another two.
Push, sweetheart. Push!
Everything will be all right.
Squeeze my hand.
As much as you like.
The Virgin Mary is with us.
With pain. With pain!
What is it, baby?
What is it? A girl!
A girl. Another girl!
A little girl. A little girl.
The good mother's child
is a girl!
Well done, little Orsa!
Spyros, send Nikos a telegram
with the good news!
Nikos, dear Orsa
has borne a daughter.
Mother and child
are in the best of health.
Heartfelt congratulations.
Nikos, congratulations
on the birth of your daughter.
Mother and child are well.
You've become a father
for the third time.
I envy you.
Nikos, beautiful little Orsa
has had a third child.
Her eyes like black pearls.
And her hair, which was not
been cut since her schooldays...
...flows in waves
over the entire double bed.
Is the prize for fidelity
worth a single penny, I wonder?
All these years...
All these years alone
and faithful...
What's the prize?
What?
Ah, Mina, Mina...
A whole bunch of grandchildren!
Woman!
I'm back to Andros.
They're here at last!
Nothing more.
Britain and France
have declared war on Germany.
Your husband arrived just in time,
Mina.
He's lucky he managed...
How did Mrs. Hadoulaina put it?
England... what exactly did she say?
Captain Savvas, here's your
other son-in-law, Spyros.
Good to see you.
And yet, you're late...
You're too late.
Your mug.
It's been waiting for you.
You've settled in nicely on
dry land son, isn't that so?
And you must be proud
of the house Mina built.
The agony of separation is over.
Be mindful... even now.
The two Orsas in my life,
my mother and my daughter...
...they make the best coffee.
It's the loneliness that calls
for a pot of coffee.
The loneliness...
I want us to live here.
I thought you brought me here
to pick up some things.
For Christ's sake,
I don't understand you, Orsa.
Weren't you the one who said...
...the walls were steeped
in my father's madness...
...and my mother's tears?
And you said that I...
...that I would breathe new life
into the rooms...
I begged you, Orsa. I begged
and begged but you insisted...
...that you want the cousins
to be together.
That you want to be
near your sister.
I'll have Annezio.
She's over 70.
What's going on?
I feel that we should.
That it's necessary.
That the time has come
for us to move here.
You thought about it too late,
Orsa.
Now families, women
have to stay together.
In retaliation for the sinking of
the HOOD and the loss of 1,300 men...
...British naval forces
in the Atlantic...
...have hunted down and sunk
the BISMARCK...
...sending a thousand Germans
to a watery grave.
They'll bomb fuel tanks,
docks, customs houses...
They'll target the ports first.
The SS KYMOTHOE
is sailing for Marseille.
And the SS ARCHIPELAGOS
for Konstanz.
20 years after the Great War
and we're at it again.
Since I was 13...
50 years at sea...
And now you're leaving and
I'm staying here on the rock...
...like an old crab
with its claws broken...
You'll look out for the women.
And the children.
See you tonight.
So long.
Take care.
It's been 20 years since our
NAUTILUS was sunk...
...with all hands on board.
And I still remember that night
going from village to village...
...alone on my mule
to notify the families.
I'm haunted by that night. I don't
want to go through that again.
Do I have the five?
From the Korthian villages?
Those poor boys?
Their seaman's books are ready.
All five are signing on.
I knew their fathers well...
And I've checked out the sons...
Thank you.
Spyros...
Take Orsa and go home.
I'm popping over to the doctor
for a cough syrup to have in stock...
...and I'm coming.
Good evening.
The Maltabes Clan.
"Little England".
"Little England".
I've loaded copper in Valparaiso
and am heading for Buenos Aires.
We get there, unload...
...and to thank the crew, I take them
all to a club, the La Paloma.
I've heard about it.
Don't be cross with us! It's my knee.
That's why we're late.
- Hope you're better soon, Nana.
- It's been swollen for ten days.
There are 1317 postcards
in my collection.
The only country I don't have
a postcard from is Albania.
I don't even know what it's like...
And tomorrow so many young men...
...who were my pupils
will be going to fight there.
Why is Spyros so late?
He left the office hours ago.
- Right after the signatures.
- What signatures?
Here he is.
Good evening.
There you are! Where were you?
I had to say goodbye
to a lot of people...
- How are you, Katerina?
- I'm fine, Spyros.
Our LITTLE ENGLAND.
LITTLE ENGLAND?
Strange name for a ship.
No doubt it was little Moscha's idea.
She's so fluent in English.
Definitely!
Registered tonnage 4,978, cargo...
...tonnage 7500.
Price 92,000 pounds.
Bravo!
Congratulations!
Spyros Maltabes,
mission accomplished.
You are now a ship owner.
Ammonia, nitrate, naphthalene...
...varnishes and tar.
I took on all the dangerous cargo.
I worked... like a dog.
Mines and torpedoes everywhere.
You picked the time to invest
all your savings on shipboards.
I've been waiting for it
for 10 years.
I dreamed about it.
You're completely mad!
Congratulations.
May she be seaworthy.
Our madman has guts.
That's common knowledge.
Be careful you don't get caught
up in the injustice of war.
That's my business.
The injustice of war rings out
in my ears... in yours...
And there are other injustices
that weigh down my soul.
Godspeed...
And a safe return.
For everyone.
Amen!
Cheers!
Cheers!
Amen!
It's the first time...
...that the three captains of the
house are on the island together...
...and sitting at the same table,
mother.
The first time in so many years.
Their health!
Orsa...
Orsa...
I leave at daybreak.
All night I've been searching
for your eyes...
...and it's as if for you
I don't exist...
Take care...
Take care of yourself...
Please, I beg you,
take care of yourself.
My love.
- Take care, Spyros.
- May the daybreak find us well!
Good night.
- We all had a lovely time.
- Be well!
Thank you very much, Mina.
Good night and have
a safe journey back!
- Bon voyage!
- Goodbye!
Our Father which art in Heaven,
make us good and drunk this day.
I'm three months pregnant...
He doesn't know.
He hasn't touched me
in two and a half months.
He's changed, Orsa... completely.
Running about, worries, bills...
And how can I tell him now?
How can I tell him now
that he's leaving...
Early in the morning...
...the myrrh-bearing women
came to Thee...
...and sprinkled myrrh...
...on Thy tomb.
O my sweet spring...
...my sweetest Child...
Where has all Thy beauty faded?
Him who now and forever
stills the winds, calms the waves...
...causes storms
to cease and stirs...
...the good and fitting winds
and climes...
...be forever commander and mate
to Thy servants...
...and guide them to safe havens.
Amen.
The blue flows...
And we flow with it.
With them... on the waves.
The silver candlesticks.
For that humble home.
It's shameful...
Well, they don't have electricity
there.
- Let them have the binoculars.
- I need them.
Bring the silver teaspoons as well.
What are they going to do with them
up there in the desolate mountains?
They're simple folk...
farmers with spades.
They'll take a shine to them.
We can't eat them
and the children need food.
Trade them for chickens,
cheese, flour.
Tell them we've also got curtains
and carpets...
...for the next time...
Just a minute. Wait.
For the road...
So tell me... do Italian women
have butts...
...wobbly ones...
Englishwomen?
Broad... and withered!
German women?
Krupp butts. As big as a tank.
Good boy Savvas. Now tell me...
Argentinean women down there...
What sort of asses do they have?
Steaming!
You aced that one!
How many hurricanes have
you been in, Grandpa?
Too many to count.
- The worst sea is the Bay of Biscay?
- Cursed.
Her ocean bed is full
of scattered bones.
The biggest graveyard for our lot.
Grandfather, who do you think
is the most fearless captain?
Dad or Uncle Spyros?
What a question, you rascal!
...as the German stukas
of the Wehrmacht bombed...
...and sank ten destroyers and
torpedo boats of the Hellenic Navy...
...the PSARRAS, the HYDRA,
the THYELLA, the DOREIS...
...the KYDONEAE, the AEGLI,
the KIOS, the KIZIKOS...
...the PERGAMOS,
the ARETHUSA...
During the attempted
invasion of Crete...
...the resistance
of the inhabitants...
...resulted in the massacre...
...of the 7th parachute division
of the Germans.
LITTLE ENGLAND
In the Atlantic, the greatest threat
comes not from the huge waves...
...and the freezing cold,
but from German submarines...
...which attack allied convoys
like wolf packs in the night.
The battle for naval supremacy
is crucial to the outcome of the war.
In just the last month
14 Greek ships were lost.
As for rescue operations...
Rescue operations?
What rescue operations?
The Americans have stopped it!
How many will die
in the icy waters...
...and how many
will be eaten by sharks?
What the hell am I doing
in the Indian Ocean?
Yannis. Signal the British
that we're changing course.
Come on, lads!
Let's go!
The children ask me why
she's called Hexadaktylou...
...since she's got five fingers!
Listen to me...
We have children,
we have obligations...
...and we've got to hold out!
Keep playing the piano,
Hexadaktylou! I'll open.
There you are!
- I thought we said at 2:00.
- We're half an hour late!
Finally!
We've already had the first drink.
- Where were you?
- We were waiting for you!
Many happy returns.
Thank you.
Thank you very much.
- Happy birthday.
- Thank you.
Others are resisting
in the mountains with guns...
...while chicken-hearted me,
with the piano... And raki.
Just raki. Straight!
I traded the piano stool
for half a bottle.
- Next week the piano goes.
- Don't.
Katina? Marie?
They're in Athens...
nursing the wounded.
"This is the BBC.
Air and naval battles from
Midway to the Coral Sea...
...and from the North Sea
to Madagascar.
Also, allied convoys
to transport munitions...
...from America to Europe.
And...
...1,5 million Germans
dead in Russia. "
1,5 million Germans dead.
In this instance I have to hand it
to the communists.
They gave their word
that they would win, Kiki.
That some day they'll
come back to us...
...bringing lice in mounds
instead of pounds.
Love's mystic sails,
and no more black veils!
No more black veils!
Madame...
I won't take no for an answer.
I'm the man you missed
all these years.
That's the way my Mikes
used to dance with me.
How I wish he were alive and never
mind his farting day and night.
Actually, I miss his farts...
Believe it or not...
...I still have the taste
of Vangelis' kiss on my lips...
...even if he was lost at sea
17 years ago...
How time flies...
With war... and peace.
With love affairs and childbirths.
With yearning... and dignity.
With work...
...and the Etesian winds.
Katerina, your song!
From that lovely record
Vangelis had sent you.
Come on, say the words...
I don't know what they mean.
We don't need to know.
Russian songs are very suited
to sadness. More than any others!
Poor things, they have no news...
Bafaloukas, Falangas...
...Piangos, Michas, Tziotis...
22 from the THRASYVOULOS
and 26 from the PANACHRANTOU.
The first men from Andros
lost in this war.
They want their memorial sweet...
Tie the oilskin pouches...
...with your seaman's book
and diploma to your waists.
So they can identify our bodies
if the worst comes to the worst.
For Andros.
For Andros.
Come on, lads.
Good evening.
Good evening, Moscha.
From our London offices
and the British Red Cross...
...we have learnt that...
...a submarine picked up
three of our men...
...Zanakis, Maistros...
...and Boussoulas.
They said that Spyros put them
in the lifeboat... he ordered them.
They didn't see
what happened to him...
...if he managed to save himself...
LITTLE ENGLAND sank.
My love!
Spyros!
My love! Spyros!
Moscha!
Moscha!
My sister and my husband!
Where are you?
Behind my back!
Your children!
How many years behind my back?
How many?
What is this?
I'll tear you to pieces!
Don't come near me!
Don't come near me!
Keep away from me!
He was here in '33.
And Mersina was born in '34.
Speak up.
Who is her father?
Your husband or mine?
So he asked for Orsa's hand first.
And I'm finding out about it now.
15 years later...
And you, mother... monster...
you who are so calculating...
...and nothing gets by you.
What did you reply...
...when he came back and asked for
the hand of your second daughter?
What did you tell him? Nothing!
You just chose to ignore it,
just like that.
You're responsible for all this.
How could you?
What kind of woman are you?
What kind of mother?
What kind of woman am I?
Well, speak up! Let's hear it!
What kind of woman am I?
What kind of mother am I?
Look who's talking. You...
You who only sent word from
the other side of the planet...
...while I fought, I fought,
I fought alone...
The house, two difficult females...
...staying close and consoling
the widows of the seamen...
...present at the 40-day memorials,
the annual memorials...
...the 6-month memorials...
What kind of woman am I?
Never failing to convey
your condolences...
What kind of woman am I?
What kind...
You destroyed us... mother.
We destroyed...
...we destroyed our own children.
If he's alive?
If he comes back?
What will he do?
What will become of us?
Your children will not be left
without a father.
Freedom, at last!
Moscha, turn the radio on.
I just want him to be alive
and well.
The people are waiting. Come along.
Please be patient... wait.
Silence, please.
Many were seen by Karyotakis,
Loukissas and Sybouras. Ask them.
Athanasios Boulmetis, cook.
Did you see him anywhere?
I saw him in Japan 6 months ago.
In a concentration camp. He's ok.
Giorgakis Kalogirou? He was
a boatswain on the CYCLADES.
He's alive. He was with me
in the Philippines.
General MacArthour freed
5,000 prisoners. He's coming home.
Any good news about my brother,
Alexandros Kyrtatas?
He too was a seaman on the CYCLADES.
My father, a radio operator on the
THEOMITOR, Gerassimos Balas.
When's he coming?
Son, there in the Philippines...
...did you happen to see
my two boys?
Halas! Family name Halas...
Two boys as tall as cypress trees.
I don't know.
I didn't happen to see them.
I was going to come...
I was going to come to the house...
All 22 of us... he put us
in the lifeboat... all of us.
All 22 of us.
We didn't want to go...
I didn't want to go.
He cussed me, he ordered me,
he gave me a couple of punches...
...and threw me into the lifeboat.
I didn't want to leave him.
Valiant men...
...of Andros.
Bones scattered in the depths...
Orsa... Would you like
the binoculars?
...of distant oceans...
Go away.
...in the embrace of history...
...they tell of mourning and sorrow.
For us there is no forgetting...
...a journey with open sails.
In sorrow and pride...
...with laurel wreaths.
A heavy toll of blood...
...since 31 ships from Andros sunk.
On the last convoy it joined
the freighter LITTLE ENGLAND...
...was carrying cotton and wheat
from New Orleans.
It was torpedoed
off the Irish Coast...
...on 11 March 1943.
Spyros Maltabes sacrificed
his life for his men.
He stayed on the bridge...
...and went down with his ship.
The Bronze Medal for Valor
belongs to his family.
The sixth Maltabes to die.
His daughter.
I'm sorry...
I know all about it.
She dresses in black...
She won't eat.
She never leaves the house...
We haven't spoken
in almost 3 years.
We don't talk.
But the whole island
is talking about us.
There's no room for all of us
on Andros any more.
You'll be better off without me...
...there...
I lost... I lost friends
on the destroyer...
...then others in the Middle East.
I lost the ships...
But I found a good job working
in a shipping office in New York.
That's where we're going
the four of us.
Others are also taking their families
and moving to England or America.
You'll like it there.
And mother?
She's staying here.
- Alone?
- She'll come later...
As soon as she's strong enough.
Are you punishing her?
You can leave, as many of you
as you like... go wherever you like.
I'm going to sea...
I'm getting my seaman's papers.
And yet it's the right thing for you.
Mersina...
My beauty.
Andros...
We have exhausted all the
options science has to offer.
I don't know what the professor
can contribute, but...
...if the patient doesn't cooperate
there's nothing more we can do.
I brought so much medication,
so many syrups...
...tonic injections from America...
She throws the pills
out of the window.
Professor, I've asked you to come
to the island as a last resort...
We'll take her to Athens...
to London...
I'll sell the house if necessary...
Dyscataposia, atony, hardship
in general, I would say...
But the patient isn't cooperating.
Inside her the only thing
that's getting stronger...
...is the spirit of denial.
Uncle Emilios!
Where have you disappeared to
all this time?
Uncle Emilios!
FROM SPYROS MALTABES
TO EMILIOS MALTABES
FOR LITTLE ORSA
Give me the letters.
All 17 of them.
I'm tired.
I need to know...
...how much he loved you.
I must know if he ever loved me too.
Orsa...
What's become of you?
Calcutta...
27 September 1929.
Surabaya...
7 October 1929.
Lorenzo Marques...
13 March 1930.
Odessa...
2 May 1930.
All written in '29 and '30...
...before my marriage.
I had learnt to think of him...
...and to love him...
...since I was 12.
It was in November.
There was a bad storm...
...and I saw him...
He was 19...
...throwing off his white shirt...
...and diving...
...into the waves...
...for a bet.
I wanted to love...
...to love very much...
...to love for ever.
He loved you, Moscha...
He loved you...
You are loved...
In life...
...it seems the things you lose...
...are worth more...
...than the things you find.
The things you find are lost again.
The things you lost exist for ever.
Orsa...
The Maltabes Circle...
Damned floorboards!
It's the ceiling's fault.
It wouldn't let me forget him.
I could hear his high spirits...
...his words, his footsteps...
...when he took off his shoes...
...the muffled tomfoolery...
...your bodies thrashing
on the bed...
The floorboards.
Before the wedding...
...he was to make a down payment
on a house in Kastella...
...in Piraeus.
I told him I'm not leaving Andros.
That day when you had us
for dinner...
...and I went to fetch Nana...
Who was limping. I remember.
Before going to her house...
...I met him...
...for the first time,
secretly and alone...
...after ten years...
...for half an hour...
...by the sea...
...on the rocks...
SOS...
...that's what he wrote
with his hand on my breast.
SOS.
She asked to attend the service
because Saint Nicholas...
...is the patron saint of seamen and
all the men in her life were seamen.
Grandfather, father, uncles, husband,
son and the man she loved.
And she had the courage to name them
all to Moscha in just that order.
I don't care what some people say...
I love them both.
Do you have any photograph of hers?
In my mind, a lot...
Ever since I picked her up
off the street...
...adopted her child...
unknown father...
Last night I felt like telling Orsa,
before it's too late...
...and to Moscha of course...
...that they have a brother,
even though he's far away...
...but I didn't dare.
I made a mess of things
both here and there.
Spyros...
Spyros...
I finished it at dawn.
All alone on the waves.
Him too.
Neither of us
ever saw the ship up close...
Moscha...
...you're the only one
who isn't to blame.
Had he lived...
...what would have happened
with the two of us?
If only he had lived...
If we had studied...
...something...
If we had found a job...
Or if we had gone away...
...far away...
If we had talked...
If we had talked, Moscha...
...back then...
May!