It is the years between the two world wars in a small seaside village in Greece. Two children, Petros and Anthoula (he is eight and she is seven) are enjoying the summer holidays. With the spontaneity and innocence of the young they gradually discover the miracle of the world that surrounds them. They reach out to touch the stars and talk to the animals, to play hide-and-seek with the birds and frolic in the water. They also begin to utter the first verses of the eternal song of love, even if they cannot yet understand the words. But this miraculous celebration of life suddenly darkens when, quite unexpectedly, the two children find themselves face to face with a solitary, sick boy their own age, a social outcast because he has tuberculosis. Petros and Anthoula discover the cruelty of the "grown-up world" where fear and ignorance lead to the most inhuman behaviour. They decide to react, breaking down the barriers of prejudice and opening bright pathways to life that are quite inconceivable to grownups.
Dinos Demopoulos returns to Greek films after a long absence, adapting his own award-winning children's book. The result is charming. The script adroitly avoids the pitfalls of the melodrama. |