UNSUBDUED SLAVES


View at Tainiothiki tis Ellados
  • Genre: Feature Film
  • Jaar: 1946
  • Beschrijving: On the eve of World War II in Athens, a group of young people have established a theatrical group, planning to stage Shakespeare’s "Midsummer Night’s Dream". The outbreak of war, however, changes everything. During the Occupation, they leave home and organize a resistance cell. They throw themselves into the fight against the occupiers; some sacrifice their lives, while others, like Dimitris and Titania, fall in love. The Resistance, however, continues to spread, and the deaths of untold heroes bring the moment of freedom ever closer. The film was initially directed by Marios Ploritis, who abandoned the venture as too risky, but it was completed by Vion Papamichalis, under whose name it was registered.
    1. OPENING TITLES )
    10. THE INFORMER WATCHING OVER THE THEATRE COMPANY MEMBERS COMES ACROSS A DIAGRAM AND ATTEMPTS TO RAPE ELENI Amid widespread nervousness, “Lysandros” tries to keep his head: “He will confront them as a free man”. (In a superimposition that denotes fantasy: with a troubled expression on his face, the musician appears between the director and “Eleni”). “Titania” goes across the yard. She drops a diagram. With a spiteful look, the informer lying in wait close by makes it clear to the girl that he understands what she is up to. The informer watches the director and “Eleni” go down the stairs. He goes up to the attic to find “Titania” there alone. He tries to rape her and the girl brings an ashtray hard down on his head. Fuming with rage, the informer threatens her: “I’ll make you all pay for that”. All by herself in the room, “Titania” cries her heart out. When “Dimitris” comes round, “Titania” explains to him in a storm of sobs and tears that the informer down at the yard knows everything. (ATTIC – YARD, 1940)
    11. DIMITRIS KILLS THE INFORMER AND TITANIA IS KILLED IN THE FIGHTING THAT BREAKS OUT BETWEEN THE THEATER COMPANY AND THE GERMANS Night. The director walks alone in a street somewhere in town. (Talking to himself: “Make up your mind! Your friends’ lives are in your hands”). There is a gunshot. A man’s body is lying on the pavement. Up in the attic, the team members are on tenterhooks. The director comes back. He puts his gun down on the piano, on top of the score for the "Good Friday Night" oratorio. Narrator over: “One night we ran into a German roadblock”. Scenes of street fighting at night. The team members carry guns. They shoot. “Titania” is wounded. She talks about the garden and the Dream … She breathes her last in “Dimitris”’ arms, uttering a line from the play: “Your bell, Puck, rings so joyfully and what light there is today!” (THE STREETS OF ATHENS – THE ATTIC, 1940)
    12. THE THEATRE COMPANY MEMBERS BEFORE A FIRING SQUAD Narrator over: “They waited for Dimitris and Anna to come in vain”. The five young people stand in front of a firing squad. The refuse to be blindfolded. The order to fire is given. Narrator over: “Until the day of freedom!”. (PRISON – FIRING SQUAD, 1940)
    13. THE END . LIBERATION ARCHIVAL MATERIAL Archival Material: Liberation Scenes. The Greek flag superimposed on the Acropolis. The liberation forces entering the city and parading through the streets. The allied forces greeted by crowds of people waving flags. Superimposed: the faces of the five young heroe. The cheering crowd. (ATHENS, 1941)
    2. ATHENS 1940. A GROUP OF YOUNG ACTORS REHEARSING A PLAY Athens. Autumn 1940. In an open-air space, a group of young actors are rehearsing a play they are going to stage. It is Shakespeare’s "Midsummer Night’s Dream". They talk to one another using their role names. A poster says that the performance is scheduled for the 28th October 1940. The poster starts slowly to go up in flames. (ATHENS – OPEN-AIR SPACE, 1940)
    3. ARCHIVAL MATERIAL OF WAR SCENES Archival Material: War scenes. Greek soldiers in the Albanian mountains. Cannons. Military aircraft and warships. (WAR FRONTS – THE ALBANIAN FRONT, 1940)
    4. A SMALL BOY’S MURDER BY A GERMAN SOLDIER SHOCKS THE THEATRE COMPANY German boots on the march. In a garden, the company members convene a meeting to decide whether to stage the play or not. The sound of a German march. In a nearby street, children play. As one of them bends down to pick up some army bread that a German soldier had just dropped, the latter delivers a deadly blow to the little boy. (A GARDEN IN ATHENS – A STREET IN ATHENS, 1940)
    5. LYSANDROS IS DETERMINED TO GO UNDERGROUND AND JOIN THE RESISTANCE – HE TRIES TO PERSUADE THE REMAINDER TO FOLLOW SUIT “Lysandros”, who is also the stage director, moved by the German song that reminds him of the dead boy, joins the Resistance. From now on, his orders will come from Cairo. His steadfast belief in the right cause in imprinted in his words: “We must never believe that we are enslaved. They want to kill Greece and our soul”. His words for the necessity of the Resistance talk nearly all the rest into joining in with him. At first, “Titania” (played by Elli Lampeti) has certain minor reservations. On the contrary, her sister “Eleni” has absolute faith in the necessity and success of the Resistance. Anxiously, “Puck”, the play’s fictional sprite, comes round at the house where the group of young partisans meets. He warns them there is a German outside, probably keeping a watch on the house. Indeed, there is a German walking up and down on the pavement across the street. (A HOUSE IN ATHENS, 1940)
    6. ANY DOUBTS AS TO THE DECISION OF THE GROUP TO JOIN IN THE RESISTANCE DISPERSE AT THE SIGHT OF THE UGLY SCENES DURING THE OCCUPATION At “Titania” and “Eleni”’s parental house, the two girls’ parents do not seem to share the young people’s views on the necessity of Resistance against the occupation forces. Concerned about the security risk that their clandestine meetings involve, a musician suggests that they get together at his attic. After giving the suggestion some thought, “Lysandros” says that they can meet “at his attic tomorrow”. “Titania” and “Eleni” walk in the streets of Athens. Suddenly, a cart with a man’s body goes past them. The theatre company members go to the musician’s house in twos. In the yard, there are stairs leading to the attic. They talk about the strange elderly man keeping a watch on the yard. They conclude that they should overcome their fears. They decide that there are enough people present to make a quorum. Their excuse, in case the Germans raid the place, would be that they have gathered at the attic to listen to the "Good Friday Night" Oratorio, the musician’s last composition. On the road, a boy tries hard to drive a dog away. The boy and the dog are fiercely contending for some waste food. “Giannis”, the only one in the company still wavering over whether to join in the resistance, was witness to the scene. At the musician’s attic, “Giannis” breaks in on the meeting. The director welcomes him with a broad smile and says: “Now, we are all present”. (ELENI AND TITANIA’S PATERNAL HOUSE – THE MUSICIAN’S ATTIC IN ATHENS – STREETS IN ATHENS, 1940)
    7. THE COMPANY'S ACTIVE ENGAGEMENT IN THE RESISTANCE MOVEMENT AND THE BEGINNING OF THE LOVE AFFAIR BETWEEN DIMITRIS AND TITANIA The young people are eager to operate the wireless and produce proclamations on a duplicating machine. Some of the company keep watch, making out that they are serenading to the accompaniment of the guitar. Further down, in the dark, “Giannis” is writing slogans on the walls: “DEATH TO THE CONQUERORS”. A gunshot is heard. “Giannis” drops dead. The rest run off to take refuge. The Germans search the houses in the area, banging on the doors. In the dark of the night, the children hide away in a nearby grove. They split up so that they can pass as young couples. “Titania” and “Dimitris” end up together. As they talk, they exchange slightly paraphrased lines from the Shakespeare’s play: love and fear. As “Titania” is snuggled up in “Dimitris”’s arms, the young man leans over and kisses her passionately. A cabaret scene. A girl sings a song from an operetta on the piano. The customers are German officers dining out, and several Greeks. The musician from the young people’s company plays the piano. “Puck” sells cigarettes, carrying a small chest and moving about the tables. At some point, the singer secretly gets a coded message across to the audience with her song. In the attic the group of youths decodes the message: “German troop transport ships off the coast of Crete”. At the table, the spinning top of the game of chance now reads “let us all contribute”. (THE ATTIC – THE STREETS OF ATHENS – THE GROVE – THE CABARET, 1940)
    8. AERIAL COMBAT Archival material: aerial combat. (THE SEA, 1940)
    9. THE COMPANY’S ROLE IN THE RESISTANCE BEGINS TO LEAK OUT AND THE MUSICIAN IS ARRESTED BY THE GERMANS In the attic, in a ritual yet playful manner, the young people in the company refer to "The Marriage of Figaro" and "The Barber of Seville". Amid widespread euphoria, there is growing concern among the young people about the suspicious-looking individual keeping a watch on the yard. “Titania” and “Dimitris” get down to some serious work. In the evening, they will shoulder an important and difficult mission. Dimitris: “Are you still afraid of big trees, Titania?” and the girl: “I’m not afraid of anything, Dimitris”. It is a dialogue from "Midsummer Night’s Dream", which brings to mind the conversation the two young people had in the grove, where they took refuge in the dark of the night, and their first kiss. In the cabaret, as he does every night, “Puck” with his small chest sells cigarettes to the customers. Among the banknotes a customer gives him, there is a paper slip with a coded message. Trying hard to remain calm, the singer warns the pianist that they should be more careful: “I sense they suspect something”. In the attic, the singer comes around holding a fashion magazine. She opens it and there is a coded message on a paper slip stuck between the pages, which she hands over to “Dimitris”. In the cabaret, while the musician is playing the piano, German soldiers storm in and arrest him. Anxiously, the singer and “Puck” look on … “Puck” rushes to the attic to warn the others. The informer in the yard makes a note of every move they make. The news comes like a bombshell. (THE ATTIC – THE CABARET, 1940)
  • Trefwoorden: IMediaCities / ΑΝΤΙΣΤΑΣΗ ΓΕΡΜΑΝΟΙ ΣΤΡΑΤΙΩΤΕΣ ΑΣΥΡΜΑΤΟΣ ΠΟΛΥΓΡΑΦΟΣ ΣΑΙΞΠΗΡ Β ΠΑΓΚΟΣΜΙΟΣ ΠΟΛΕΜΟΣ ΕΚΤΕΛΕΣΗ ΘΙΑΣΟΣ ΑΠΕΛΕΥΘΕΡΩΣΗ / RESISTANCE GERMAN SOLDIERS RADIO DUPLICATOR SHAKESPEARE 2 WORLD WAR EXECUTION TROUPE LIBERALIZATION / ΑΝΤΙΣΤΑΣΗ ΓΕΡΜΑΝΟΙ ΣΤΡΑΤΙΩΤΕΣ ΑΣΥΡΜΑΤΟΣ ΠΟΛΥΓΡΑΦΟΣ ΣΑΙΞΠΗΡ Β ΠΑΓΚΟΣΜΙΟΣ ΠΟΛΕΜΟΣ ΕΚΤΕΛΕΣΗ ΘΙΑΣΟΣ ΑΠΕΛΕΥΘΕΡΩΣΗ / RESISTANCE GERMAN SOLDIERS RADIO DUPLICATOR SHAKESPEARE 2 WORLD WAR EXECUTION TROUPE LIBERALIZATION
  • Provider: Tainiothiki tis Ellados
  • Rechten: In Copyright
  • Productiemaatschappij: NOVAK FILMS
  • Director: PAPAMICHALIS VION
  • Collectie: Ψηφιοποιημένες ελληνικές ταινίες μυθοπλασίας