Greek Period Drama Mini-series, based on the novel by Alexandros Papdiamantis.
The “Murderess” is a bone-chilling tale of crime and punishment with the dark beauty of a backwoods ballad. Hadoula, a widow with grown-up children, has convinced herself that it is better for little girls should leave this life when young so that they and their parents should not suffer the trials that inevitably would be inflicted on them by an inequitable society. In the throes of this misguided compassion, she first murders her own granddaughter and afterward finds herself set on a course she is unable to stop despite the promptings of her conscience and her awareness of the consequences.
Directed by Costas Ferris, and adapted by Dimos Theos.
———
Original Title: Η Φόνισσα
Cast:
Toula Stathopoulou
Thalia Argyriou
Elissavet Nazlidou
Eirini Koumarianou
Yiorgos Kendros
Movie Trivia:
1. Alexandros Papdiamantis is one of Greece’s most celebrated novelists, often cited as “the Dostoevsky of Greece”. Papadiamantis was born in Greece, on the island of Skiathos (the “theater” of many of his novels), in the western part of the Aegean Sea. His novels and short stories usually describe the culture and everyday life of both rural and urban Greece in the late 19th century. Most of his work is tinged with melancholy, and resonates with empathy with people’s suffering, regardless of whether they are saints or sinners, innocent or conflicted. He was a devout Orthodox Christian, and his faith was always present in his works.
His works are often adapted for the screen or the theater. “The Murderess” for example, has been adapted twice for the screen (in 1974 and 20012), into a mini-series and an opera play. In 2023, the novella was once again been adapted for the big screen into a major production.
2. Feminist scholars note that the novella describes the harsh life in the poverty-stricken matriarchal societies of the Greek countryside of the 19th century. Back then men worked all day in the fields, and women were in charge of the family.
source
