Original subtitles

Tymphaia: village of Epirus,

in the district of Tymphis, prefecture of loannina.

It lies beyond Tomaros mountain, where ancient Tymphis stood.

The remains of the Palasgian Walls, bear witness to the fact

that it was inhabited from ancient times.

Inhabitants during the 1939 census - 1250

Inhabitants during the 1965 census - 85.

- All this mud! - Jesus Christ, how will we get through?

Bear a little to the left.

All the way to the left. That's right.

Hold it, you're clear.

Let's go!

Pretty little lemon tree

Full of lemons

Woman of Vissani

I kissed you and fell ill

And didn't call the doctor

Bend down your branches

So I can out a lemon

Woman of Vissani

I kissed you and fell ill

And didn't call the doctor

What�s your name?

Have you lost your tongue?

And what�s your name?

Aren't you going to kiss your father?

How could he remember me?

Would you like something to eat?

RECONSTRUCTION

By Theodoros Angelopoulos

Eleni?

- ls that how it happened? - Yes.

- And then? - Just a minute.

How did the victim look at the time?

I was in a daze.

I don't know. I was in a daze.

- Can I have a glass of water? - Right away.

Then Christos Gikas pulled the rope with all his strength.

And what did you do?

I couldn't bear to watch so I went to the kitchen.

Then he began swearing at the Virgin.

He was shouting and swearing, telling me to hold the rope.

- Who made the moose? - He did!

And he gave it to me to rub it with oil so that it would slip better.

I visas in a daze. I was doing everything he asked.

What about the victim? Didn't he fight, didn't he do anything?

He was a sick man.

He fell to the floor.

He twitched a couple of times

We didn't realise he was dead.

Then Christos Gikas unfastened the rope from the door where he had tied it.

We heard the children�s voices coming back from school.

He said, "How can we stop the children from seeing him?"

I'll go and have a look at the foxhole

He's too big.

Let's cut him up.

Your father's gone again.

I planted some spring onions in the garden.

I'm standing behind the door. He can't see me.

Eleni came from the other room.

I grab him from behind.

She slips the noose over his head and pulls.

Until he was strangled and fell on the floor.

I never pulled the rope!

She claims you put the noose around his neck.

That's a lie. I swear by my own children! She's trying to get rid of me too!

Bring him here.

- And you brought him here? - Yes.

We were afraid her children might see him.

We heard their voices in the yard.

We threw him down this hole

to keep him hidden until it was dark.

Then she went out to the yard to meet her children.

And I left.

I was wandering around.

I came back here late that night,

just as We had agreed.

- How's it going? - All right.

That's no way to build a road.

It needs a bulldozer. You know how it is.

Heads or tails?

Take it.

- What do you want? - I've got to see you.

- What do you want? - I told everyone that Kostas went to loannina

to get his papers ready for Germany.

Come tonight, Christos!

No way. I can�t

Maybe tomorrow, or the day after, I'll see.

- Where are you off to? - loannina. My wife�s sick.

GORGOPOTAMOS INN

Calliope! Come down here.

- I don't have an ID. Will my passport do? - It will do.

- Did you use to work abroad? - Yes.

- What�s your name? - Kostas Goussis.

And your wife?

- Sofia. - That's not what I meant.

Was she abroad with you?

Give me the letter.

- How old is it? - It's old.

- How old? - When he first went to Germany.

Don't stand in the corridor. There won�t be room for everyone.

- A ticket to Athens. - What�s your name?

Kostas Goussis.

167.50 drachmas

167.50

- Make way. - We won�t fit in the back.

Make way.

What are you doing, will you leave us behind?

You hold tight to my bag.

Mrs Eleni Goussis Tymphaia Village

Mr Kostas Goussis Inn loannina

Tonight at Palladion,

the Kaneli Theatre Company

presents the music comedy 'Dreams of Soldiers'

which became an instant success in Agrinio.

Tonight at Palladion.

ATHENS

What happened?

I'm going for a walk.

- Inspector! - No pictures, please.

- Well? - This is her first testimony.

- Are you interested? - Of course, it's not just a news report.

We're conducting an inquiry.

In Tymphaia, on 8 April '70,

the wife of Kostas Goussis, Eleni Goussis, aged 35, housewife, Christian Orthodox,

presented herself to me, the Police Chief of Mesochorion,

and freely confessed to the following.

On 7 March '70, I was at my house in Palaion with my husband Kostas Goussis,

when a misunderstanding arose between us on a matter of morals,

after my sister-in-law told him that I was not behaving properly.

During the discussion he accused me of having a lover. Thus the quarrel began.

He attacked me with an iron rod and beat me across my body.

I took a piece of rope and strangled him.

Then I went to my garden and buried him. I truthfully repent for this action but it�s too late.

I have nothing else to add and I'm literate.

- So, she initially took all the blame. - Yes, but...

But we already knew that the gamekeeper was her accomplice.

In the course of the inquest,

suitable methods were used to induce him to confess.

We isolated the gamekeeper

and told him that the Woman claims that he's the sole culprit of the crime.

You know, the usual method.

As you see, they are now accusing each other.

One more thing. What are your oven views about the motives?

Everybody says the victim was an exemplary husband and father, honest, hard working,

and he was not an obstacle in his wife's relationship.

We must assume that the sole motive of the crime

is the lascivious temperament of the accused wife.

From one point of view it�s inexplicable.

The husband, his tolerance.

So, either an irresistible inclination to crime, or sordid financial motives.

Because that interpretation cannot be dismissed.

Anyway, we are dealing with people devoid of any moral fibre.

Have you decided what will happen to the children?

We have discussed the matter with the woman�s relations.

The two little ones will be placed in an orphanage,

While the eldest daughter will got work for a wealthy merchant in loannina,

as a maid, or something of the sort.

The house will be shut down and sold by her siblings.

I didn't realise how it happened. I didn't mean to. I swear by my children!

I remember wanting to tell her that I would have nothing to do with it.

But I couldn't do it.

I remember that.

And then it was as if she'd cast a spell on me.

We're journalists from Athens. We're looking for the gamekeepers wife.

The girls were straining to listen to what the violins were playing at ten feast.

They wouldn�t go to the main square. Not because of fear or...

- What did you do to my brother-in-law? - He went to Germany.

- You're lying. What did you do to him? - Stop talking nonsense!

- What nonsense? What did you do to him? - Leave me alone!

I'm telling you the truth, Officer.

She and her lover killed him. I know that very well.

Bye.

- Hi there. - Good morning.

I'm looking for someone by the name of Kostas Goussis. He's been reported missing.

- His house is up there. - I've been there. There's nobody home.

What do you know about him?

He was away in Germany for years. It's not long since he came back.

How did he get on with his wife?

There's a lot of gossip in the village.

Is there anybody in the cafe, old man?

Cigarette?

What did you come to see here?

Our miserable lives?

Our poverty, and all the fine men going away?

If your wife's a whore, she either kills you...

Or you kill her.

There's no other way.

- I am the mayor of the village. - Nice to meet you.

Nice to meet you.

Thank you.

No, thanks.

- ls your tape-recorder working? - Yes.

- Do you mind? - Better be on the safe side.

Eleni!

Last one.

What now? Are they going to bed that early?

What did you expect?

Nothing changes. I'm so bored!

- Don't think about it. - There's nowhere to go.

- Good evening. - Good evening.

What are you doing here? They might see us.

What did they want?

- They were asking questions. - And what did you say?

You whore, you got me into this!

If something goes wrong, Christos...

I'll take all the blame.

I have two sisters and a brother in Germany.

- My brother invited me to go there. - What does your brother do there?

He works at the foundry in T�bingen.

- Are there many Greeks there? - Yes.

280 of them are from our village.

I'm off to Germany so I can go to the cinema on Sundays,

and go to the nightclubs and see what it�s like having fun there.

My husband writes in his letters he sends me that he's fine in Germany.

He says work is like playing cards in a caf�. He sticks wallets together.

- He's invited me and I'll go too. - What do you expect to find in Germany?

What do I expect? Well, I expect to grow fat, and pretty.

Over here, as you can see, our hearts have sickened

with the poverty and the rest of it.

I won't take the kids, I'll only go for six months. My husband has invited me.

Then I'll come back home where my kids are, I don't want to leave them.

Will you be saving up money there?

I'm not going there to make money for my children,

but to see how they lead better lives there.

Life's better there.

Here, it's hard work working in the fields.

But in Germany, in the factory, we were working for 8 hours.

We had 16 hours free to get some rest, to go out and have a good time.

Here on the other hand, a sheep doesn't understand working hours.

We have no idea what a holiday is.

In Germany we saw how people live.

In the old days, our villages were better off.

Their population was large and, in those days, the people worked a lot.

Then people left.

All the young people are leaving and they keep on leaving.

The villages will be deserted

if this migration doesn't stop.

Nowadays, it's just us old people that are left in the villages.

We're old and we'll start dying,

and the villages will be empty.

And when the villages are empty, that won't be too good for the cities either.

- Someone saw Giorgos, her brother, coming! - Over here, Giannis!

There's someone here to see you, sir!

I heard you're looking for someone by the name of Kostas Goussis.

I'm his wife's brother.

You see? It's broken on both sides.

These are no good to build a home, they're broken beams.

We need to bring beams and open it up, otherwise it's no good.

Anything you need.

Go and get them and bring them over so we can open it up before it starts raining.

We'll bring them, what else can we do? We need to repair the house.

- Bye. - Bye.

- Good morning. - Welcome.

- I want to talk to you, Eleni - Let me just finish this.

I'll bring a stool.

Sit down.

- What is it, Giorgos? - The police are all over the place, searching.

- There's a lot of gossip in the village. - ls that what you wanted to tell me?

- Yes. - Let them gossip in the village.

OK, forget about the others. But what about us, your oven siblings?

- What happened? - He went away.

I told you, didn't l ? I showed you the letter he sent me from loannina.

- Tell us the truth, Eleni. - Leave me alone!

- Eleni, that's no way to talk. - Leave me alone!

I'm not having anyone telling me what to do. No one!

It's me, Giorgosl

- What do you want? - Open the door.

- There's some tsipouro. - I don't want any.

Coffee? Do you want some coffee?

The police have made inquiries in loannina.

They found Kostas' name on the passenger list of a bus going to Athens.

And at an inn too.

The innkeeper says there was a woman with him.

Her name was Sofia.

Do you know anyone called Sofia in the village?

Apart from the gamekeeper's wife?

They're going to bring you in for questioning, the policeman told me so.

What did you do with him? You lied, he didn't leave! What did you do with him?

Sit down.

Padazi's son saw Christos in loannina.

Save me, Giorgos. I'm lost.

What have you done, you poor fool?

- Promise you will help me. - Where is he?

- You won't betray me, Giorgos, will you? - Where is he?

What have they done, What have they done?

It's nobody's fault.

It just happened.

I've been thinking about it all night.

After all, she's my sister.

- I've told them to bring the Land Rover. - Good. We're nearly finished.

- Bring both of them in. - Bring them both in!

- Clear the room. - Yes, sir.

Could you please all step out for a while?

One of you two is trying to fool us.

Who thought of the plan?

The time? The letter?

All those details?

You're not doing yourselves any good by accusing each other!

Who made the moose?

Who tied the rope to the door?

- Who slipped the moose around his neck? - Not me! I swear!

Not me! I swear by my children!

- Take her off me! Take her off me now! - Stop it!

Take her off me!

Take her away!

Come here.

Show me what you did with the rope.

Bitch, you killed him! Bitch!

- Murderer! - Whore!

Murderer!

Murderer!

- Bitch! - Murderer!

Whore!

Eleni!

- Got you, Eleni. - Got you, Takis.

Pretty little lemon tree

Full of lemons

Woman of Vissani

I kissed you and fell ill

And didn't call the doctor

THE END