Thanas Veloudios

A biographical film about the great Greek politician Eleftherios Venizelos for the period between 1910-1927. The film highlights his vision of a Greater Greece and refers to important events in Greek history such as the formation of a government by Venizelos after the Goudi movement, his dispute with the King over Greece's stance in the First World War, the temporary his withdrawal from politics after his defeat in the 1920 elections and the Asia Minor disaster. A biography of the former Greek prime minister Eleftherios Venizelos and the recreation of his acts and the political and social climate in Greece from 1910 to 1927.

Taxidi Tou Melitos is about the fear that most elderly people experience: approaching death. Leon (Stavros Xenides) and Zaharoula (Betty Livanou) are heading out for their annual vacation at a summer resort. Instead of their usual carefree anticipation, their mood is subdued because their daughter has just married and is off on her honeymoon. Life is lonely without her and the couple cannot avoid the realization that death is not that far away for them. Once at the resort, Leon tries to overcome this nagging fear by taking a wild plunge in the ocean, naked, as he and Zaharoula are out walking on the beach. Taken up in the spirit of the moment, she joins him among the waves. The results, however, are not what they expected.

Originally edited in two versions. Version I, 70 minutes; version II, 90 minutes. (The only known existing version is not Markopoulos’s edit and contains additional titles, music and voice-over added later than 1961. 65 minutes.) Filmed in Mytilene and Annavysos, Greece, 1958. Existing copy on video, J. and M. Paris Films, Athens.