"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." "98." "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?" "Iodine?" "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 fiancé." "Her fiancé?" "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." "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!" "English subtitles by Elly Petrides"