AllMovie

Ioannis Triantafyllis directed and adapted this Feneos-shot version of the Dimitris Bogris novel, one of the most important Greek films of the 1950s in that it was a serious effort to create a cinema which was truly reflective of Greece and its people socially, theologically, and morally. It is a deathbed story told to Sergios, a young monk, by Father Arkadios (Vassilis Afentakis), the gravely ill abbot of the local monastery. The story concerns Andreas (Stefanos Stratigos), a young man very much in love with the beautiful Eleni (Eugenia Roussou). Andreas has a mean-spirited and extremely jealous brother named Dimitris (Yiannis Argyris) who forces Eleni to marry him just so that his despised sibling can't have her. Heartbroken, Andreas leaves their small village and goes to live in the mountains, returning only when Eleni's father passes away and Dimitris is thrown in jail for illegally poaching game. Andreas and Eleni start seeing each other again and before long she has a baby with him out of wedlock, scandalizing the local citizenry and forcing the illicit couple to flee with their child to an isolated shack under the protection of Father Arkadios. Inevitably, Dimitris is released from jail and comes around looking for revenge, but is felled by the hands of fate before he can exact his retribution. Dimitris begs God's forgiveness and dies, leaving Andreas, Eleni, and their child to live happily ever after. Manolis Vlachakis co-stars with Katerina Zachou and Miltos Handas, and prolific character actor Theodoros Moridis appears briefly.