Eleni (1985)

Nick is a writer in New York when he gets posted to a bureau in Greece. He has waited 30 years for this. He wants to know why his mother was killed in the civil war years earlier. In a ... See full summary »

Director:

Peter Yates

Writers:

Nicholas Gage (book), Steve Tesich (screenplay)

Stars:

Kate Nelligan, John Malkovich, Linda Hunt

Cast

Cast overview, first billed only:
Kate Nelligan	...	Eleni
John Malkovich	...	Nicholas 'Nick' Gage
Linda Hunt	...	Katina
Oliver Cotton	...	Katis
Ronald Pickup	...	Spiro
Rosalie Crutchley	...	Grandmother
Glenne Headly	...	Joan
Dimitra Arliss	...	Ana (Czechoslovakia)
Steve Plytas	...	Christos
Peter Woodthorpe	...	Grandfather
Jon Rumney	...	Lukas
Alison King	...	Lukas' Wife
Leon Lissek	...	Antoni
Stefan Gryff	...	Tasso
Andrea Laskari	...	Nikola

Storyline

Nick is a writer in New York when he gets posted to a bureau in Greece. He has waited 30 years for this. He wants to know why his mother was killed in the civil war years earlier. In a parallel plot line we see Nick as a young boy and his family as they struggle to survive in the occupied Greek hillside. The plot lines converge as Nick's investigations bring him closer to the answers.

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Plot Keywords:

civil war | starving child | guerilla | escape | prisoner | 

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Genres:

Drama | War

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Certificate:

PG

Details

Country:

USA

Language:

English

Release Date:

21 December 1985 (Japan)

Also Known As:

Eleni - A Guerra Selvagem

Filming Locations:

Canada

Company Credits

Production Co:

CBS Entertainment Production, Eleni Productions

Technical Specs

Runtime:

114 min

Sound Mix:

Dolby

Color:

Color

Aspect Ratio:

1.85 : 1

Did You Know?

Trivia

Additional flashback scenes were filmed featuring Alfred Molina as Nick's father Christos (played by Steve Plytas in the 1980s scenes). Although Molina was credited as "Young Christos" in press materials, and his scenes were shown in publicity photos, his role was almost completely cut from the final version, and his name does not appear in the credits. Molina's only remaining footage in the released film is a single shot of Christos taking a photograph of Eleni, Nikola and family, with his face partially obscured by his camera.

User Reviews

Decent Story But In A Word: Grim

This is another of those supposedly based-on-a-true story accounts, this one dealing with a man's (writer Nicholas Gage) quest to return to his native Greece and avenge his mother's death which occurred 30 years earlier.

This is not an uplifting story but it's not depressing, either.....but it is grim. It begins with the Grecian mother protecting her kids from the vicious Communisits of the late 1940s. The film switches back and forth from that period to modern-day but it's never disjointed. The acting by John Malkovich, Kate Nelligan and Linda Hunt is excellent and the scenery is pleasing and very little, if any, profanity if memory serves me. It's a decent film but not anything I'd watch more than once.