Greek period drama–romance film, directed by Pantelis Voulgaris and written by Ioanna Karystiani.
In 1922, with the Greco-Turkish War and the Russian Civil War over, several women from these countries find husbands in the United States through correspondence with immigrants. Niki (Victoria Haralabidou) is one of the 700 mail order brides aboard the SS King Alexander, who falls in love with Norman (Damian Lewis) an American photographer. She is bound for her new husband, in New York; he is on his way home to a failed marriage.
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Original Title: Νύφες
IMDb rate: 7,6/10
Cast:
Damian Lewis
Victoria Haralabidou
Andréa Ferréol
Dimitris Katalifos
Evi Saoulidou
Evelina Papoulia
Apostolis Totsikas
Eirini Inglesi
Elizaveta Kuznetsova
Movie Trivia:
1. Celebrated Director and Producer Martin Scorsese, is credited as executive producer.
2. The passengers board the boat in Smyrna (Izmir) on May 1922, just 3 months before the destruction of Smyrna by the Turkish army. The fire began four days after the Turkish military captured the city on 9 September, and completely destroyed the Greek and Armenian quarters of the city.
Turkish troops and irregulars had started committing massacres and atrocities against the Greek and Armenian population in the city before the outbreak of the fire. Many women were raped. Hundreds of thousands of Greek and Armenian men (estimates vary between 100,000 and 250,000) were subsequently deported into the interior of Anatolia, where most of them died in harsh conditions.
The destruction of Smyrna was the epilogue of the Greek Genocide (1914-1922), committed by the Turkish State. Unfortunately, it can be seen also as a prelude to the many more violent outbreaks of the Turkish state against the Greeks that were about to follow (ex. the Istanbul pogrom on September of 1955 and the Occupation of Cyprus in 1974)
3. The film’s score is composed by the internationally celebrated Greek classical composer Stamatis Spanoudakis. Spanoudakis is mostly known for his instrumental music pieces that embrace Greece’s history and religion (Alexandros, Marble King, For Smyrni, A Piece of My Soul, Alexandros II, Rejoice my sea etc).
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