Elias, a ten year-old boy who lives in Athens in the late '60s, suddenly loses his father. The members of the family try, each in his own particular way, to deal with the unexpected event… except for the little boy. He cannot shoulder the burden of this separation. He cannot grasp what has happened. He refuses to accept that his father has really died and continues to behave as though he is waiting for him to return from one of his usual business trips. He starts acting strangely with the aim of keeping his father alive inside him. He lies, sends letters to his grandmother as though they are from his father. He continues to play their favorite games with him, acting out both roles of the game. And worst of all he is absolutely sure that his father will return as he had promised so that they can both watch the Americans landing on the moon for the first time on television. But his father cannot keep his promise, which was to be his last. The moon landing takes place. Man takes his leave of his planet, the earth. And so does the little boy who takes his final leave of his father for the first time. Only then does Elias realize that he has been left completely alone. At first he gets angry but in the end he understands. His father could not have done differently. He won't wait for him any more. He grows up abruptly. A new era begins for man but also for young Elias. |