Young Aphrodites (1963)

200 BC. During a merciless drought, the brute nature of man and the delicate essence of woman become inextricably intertwined, as the omnipotence of the carnal instinct demands the total surrender of the flesh.

Director:

Nikos Koundouros

Writers:

Longus (play), Kostas Sfikas

Stars:

Eleni Prokopiou, Takis Emmanuel, Kleopatra Rota

8 wins & 1 nomination.

Cast

Credited cast:
Eleni Prokopiou	...	Arta
Takis Emmanuel	...	Tsakalos
Kleopatra Rota	...	Chloe
Vangelis Ioannidis	...	Skymnos
Zannino	...	Molossos (as Giannis Zannino)
Anestis Vlahos	...	Erster Hirte
Kostas Papakonstantinou	...	Lykas
Rest of cast listed alphabetically:
Stathis Giallelis
Vasilis Kailas	...	(as Vasilakis Kailas)

Storyline

Parallel stories of Eros set in 200 B.C. Nomadic shepherds, plagued by drought, happen on a fishing encampment with plentiful fresh water. The local men are away but will return when it rains; the shepherds stay to refresh their flock until the rain comes. A shepherd lad and a local girl, both on the verge of puberty, start a mating dance. Also, one of the shepherds approaches a beautiful local woman, inviting her to sleep with him. How will she respond? She's married, her husband at sea for the week. Is love forever or temporary? A subtext dramatizes the capture of fish, birds, foxes, and other animals: their fates seem arbitrary.

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Plot Keywords:

shepherd | based on play | young love | coming of age | tragic ending | 

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Taglines:

Wonderfully Exotic, Disturbingly Erotic.

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Genres:

Drama | Romance

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Did You Know?

Trivia

Italian censorship visa # 51439 delivered on 30-4-1968.

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Quotes

Chloe: I could never love you...

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Connections

Version of Daphnis and Chloe 66 (1966)

User Reviews

I guess I'm the only nay-sayer here

Okay - I'm a USAian, and not particularly ashamed of it. I like my movies with characters I can care about, a story that interests me, filmed in a visually pleasing fashion.

The B&W photography was okay - some good scenery, some solid storytelling, but several shots either poorly framed, or in such close-up that it was hard to tell what was being shown - or why.

The characters were, I'm afraid, little more than cardboard cutouts - the young girl who showed much skin, even more indecision about the boy who she fascinated, and a remarkable lack of background or depth. The love/lust-crazed adult shepherd and his paramour, the wife of an absent fisherman - the story they told can be seen in almost any cheap neighborhood bar almost every week - and seeing the couple in the bar will give you more insight into why they're doing this dance than this movie will.

The older, bullying boy remained a cipher. The crutch-using leader, the other shepherds, the rest of the fisher-folk village - either didn't get enough screen time to fill out their characters, or too much screen time for the set-dressing they were. The primitive instruments and folk dances were interesting, but took away from the story rather than adding to it - the right television commercials would have fit in better with the story.

A side note to European filmmakers - symbology is representative. Symbols can be a marvelous way to enhance storytelling, but they are never, in themselves, the story.

I'll give it a 4 for visual interest and the bit of dramatic tension that was achieved, and remain mystified as to why anyone would consider this masterful film-making. I guess I'm just a Philistine.

Details

Country:

Greece

Language:

Greek

Release Date:

December 1966 (USA)

Also Known As:

Young Aphrodites

Filming Locations:

Rhodes, Greece

Company Credits

Production Co:

Anzervos, Minos Films

Technical Specs

Runtime:

88 min

Sound Mix:

Mono

Color:

Black and White

Aspect Ratio:

1.85 : 1