Never on Sunday
1960 ‘Pote tin Kyriaki’ Directed by Jules Dassin
Synopsis
Never on Sunday is a 1960 Greek black-and-white film which tells the story of Ilya, a prostitute who lives in the port of Piraeus in Greece, and Homer, an American tourist from Middletown, Connecticut — a classical scholar enamored with all things Greek. Ilya is a character close to the "hooker with a heart of gold" cliché. Homer feels Ilya's life style typifies the degradation of Greek classical culture and attempts to steer her onto the path of morality. It constitutes a variation of the Pygmalion story. The film stars Melina Mercouri and Jules Dassin, and it gently submerges the viewer into Greek culture, including dance, music, and language (through the use of subtitles). The signature song and the bouzouki theme of the movie became hits of the 1960s and brought the composer, Manos Hadjidakis, an Academy Award.
Cast
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Θεά Μελίνα. Πώς να μην την λατρέψεις;
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Melina Mercouri - gorgeous soul
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Greek movie about a whore and an american stalker. Was alright, funny enough.
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Not quite the Dassin I know and love, but in less capable hands, Never on Sunday could have been a lot worse.
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A mostly lighthearted comedy about an American tourist (played by Dassin himself) that meets up with a life-loving Greek prostitute and tries to convince her that there’s more to life than pleasing her senses. That part of the story is a little too heavy handed and predictable, but the film is well shot and excels at portraying joyous Greek life—parties, music, singing and loving.