Movie
CANNON AND THE NIGHTINGALE (THE) 1. THE CLOCK 2. THE CLANDESTINE WEDDING 3. THE OPPONENTS
English titleKANONI KAI TO AIDONI (TO) 1. TO ROLOI 2. MYSTIKOS GAMOS 3. I ANTIPALI
It is an articulated film comprised of three free-standing stories with a common theme: the attitude of the Greeks under the yoke of a foreign power. The Clock, the first story, is a comedy set on the island of Syros in 1943, during the Italian occupation. The island's Italian commander (Giorgos Danis) tries to keep the islanders under control but to no avail. He gives the people a bottle of oil to repair the Cathedral central clock, but the oil in the bottle gradually diminishes as it changes hands. The second story, entitled "The clandestine wedding", is melancholic and is set in Cyprus in 1957 during the armed uprising against the British conquerors. Resistance fighter Grigoris Afxendiou (Giorgos Gorgis) marries secretly, being a member of the resistance, his beloved Vasiliki (Niki Triantafyllidi) and they spend a night together. The following day at dawn, he leaves with his companions and Vasiliki never sees him again. The third story, the Opponents, is surrealistic and is set in Patras at the time of the German occupation. It describes the strange relationship that develops between a rich patriot (Dionysis Papagiannnopoulos) and a German officer (Giorgos Kampanellis) who has confiscated a room in his house. The Greek fights a peculiar battle to drive the German out of his house. The German, however, lends a helping hand when the resistance morale-booster (Manos Katrakis) and a friend of the Greek's is arrested. In the end the two opponents make friends in a most extraordinary way from the moment they denounce the human voice. In the end, as the German leaves the house, they say goodbye with a sorrowful bark.
- Production Year 1968
- First Greek Screening 09/12/1968
- Color B/W
- Audio SOUND MONO
- Directors KAMPANELLIS IAKOVOS, KAMPANELLIS GIORGOS
- Producer KAMPANELLIS GIORGOS
- Script Writer KAMPANELLIS IAKOVOS
- Script idea PIOS STEFANOS
- Directors of Cinematography KAVOUKIDIS GIORGOS, DANALIS SYRAKOS
- Editing SPYROPOULOU GIANNA
- Sound Engineer TRIFYLLIS GIANNIS
- Music Editing IGNATIADIS NIKOS
- Cinematography Assistant Directors PAPAGIANNAKIS KOSTAS, KYRLIDIS LAKIS
- Sound Engineer TRIFYLLIS GIANNIS
- PAPAGIANNOPOULOS DIONYSIS
- KAMPANELLIS GIORGOS
- TRIANTAFYLLIDI NIKI
- DANIS GIORGOS
- KATRAKIS MANOS
- KONSTANTOPOULOS SPYROS
- KEDRAKAS NASOS
- KAZAN VANGELIS
- TZORTZIS GIORGOS
- PROUSALIS ATHINODOROS
- PAPPAS KOSTAS
- STYLIARIS KOSTAS
- KATSOULIS DIMITRIS
- PANTAZOPOULOU TASIA
- ZAFEIRAKI MARIA
- LEIVADAS GERASIMOS
- MARAGKOUDIS DIMITRIS
- KALATZIS GIORGOS
- ALEXANDRAKIS GIANNIS
- KASIOS DIMITRIS
- PETROPOULOS THEODOROS
- LIATSIKA VANIA
- KAPPIOS NIKOS
- LYGIZOS KOSTAS
- KATSADRAMIS THEODOROS
- KRITI ELENI
ATHENS UNION OF FILM CRITICS
BEST FILM
ATHENS 1968
ATHENS UNION OF FILM CRITICS
BEST SCREENPLAY
ATHENS 1968
ATHENS UNION OF FILM CRITICS
//////SPECIAL MENTION/BEST FILM ON CHILDREN//BEST FILM//HONORARY DISTINCTION//BEST FILM - ORIGINAL MUSIC//BEST ACTRESS (Nini Vosniakou, Yvoni Maltezou) - ORIGINAL SCREENPLAY - PHOTOGRAPHY - EDITING//TECHNICAL ACHIEVEMENT AWARD/
ATHENS 1968
THESSALONIKI GREEK FILM FESTIVAL (9th)
BEST SCREENPLAY
GREECE 1968
1 poster about this movie
35 themes about this movie
OPENING TITLES
00:00:00-00:00:52
A tank knocks down trees. Opening Titles
THE WATCHMAKER GIVES THE OIL TO THE VERGER'S WIFE
00:21:43-00:24:17
Apparently worried, on the way to the verger's house, the watchmaker first meets the Mayor and then a Catholic priest, who he asks for absolution. He reaches Tzanis' house, the verger's house, and finds his wife alone at home hanging out the washing to dry. The watchmaker helps her out, lavishly praising her husband. The girl looks discontented. The watchmaker takes out of his pocket a small bottle of oil, asks her to give it to her husband and leaves. The girl realizes it is oil and happily adds this to the modest food she has been cooking. "God provides for the needy".
Participants: THE VERGER'S WIFE – THE WATCHMAKER– THE MAYOR - A CATHOLIC PRIEST
THE CLOCK DOESN'T WORK
00:24:18-00:26:24
The view from the Italian garrison, where the high-spirited commander and the interpreter have coffee and chat on the balcony. Then they set out for the Cathedral to see what has happened with the clock. On the way they come across two Italian soldiers taking pictures and perform the Nazi salute. At the church they find the verger who explains to them the clock doesn't work because it needs oiling. The Italian becomes furious and sends immediately for the Mayor who had received from him personally six liters of oil.
Participants: ITALIAN SOLDIERS - THE COMMANDER – THE INTERPETER - THE VERGER
GREECE WANTS TO LIVE AND SO IT WILL
00:26:25-00:34:08
At a humble coffeehouse, the Italian Commander listens to the excuses offered successively by the Mayor, the Municipality secretary, the head of the community (beaten by his wife) and the watchmaker. Finally, the verger reassures him that his wife has just receive about 75 gr of oil, which she added to the bean soup. The Italian flew into a rage and ordered to fetch him every single bottle, from the largest down to the smallest. During the interrogation, each one of the accused, in front of a line-up of five empty bottles, demonstrates persuasively his skill in deception, betting on the Italian Commander's sentimentality and humanity – himself a caricature of a dictatorial officer. Tantalized by various feelings of guilt and denying the characterization of the tyrant, the Commander suffers delusions and leaves amid wails of grief. Feeling astonished and relieved, the five Greeks watch him walk away out of the window, while the Mayor exclaims: "Gentlemen, Greece wants to live and so it will". All five of them stand still in front of the camera lens, just like a commemorative photo. The end.
Participants: THE COMMANDER - THE INTERPETER – THE MAYOR – THE HEAD OF THE COMMUNITY– THE MUNICIPAL SECRETARY – THE WATCHMAKER – THE VERGER – THE COFFEEHOUSE KEEPER
STORY II – THE CLANDESTINE WEDDING. INTRODUCTION. OPENING TITLES
00:34:09-00:35:20
Story II. The clandestine wedding. Photos and documentary films about the British occupation forces on Cyprus and the resistance put up by the Cypriots. There is a public notice issued by the British for the capture of the wanted freedom fighter Grigoris Afxentiou. Cypriot patriots have written over the notice the national anthem and in even larger type "You will never catch him". Opening titles. It is spring of 1957 on Cyprus under British occupation.
Participants: BRITISH SOLDIERS – CYPRIOT PATRIOTS
THE SCHOOLGIRL WITH THE BICYCLE
00:35:21-00:37:29
By the village road in the blossomed meadows a young school girl rides off her bike to pick up daisies. Over the lush vegatattion birds' twitters are heard. The school girl rides to town. She stops at a road full of tradeshops and rings her bike bell three times. A young man, working with an elderly man, comes out from the bicycle shop holding a bucket that shares at its bottom the same licence plate number as his bicycle. The school girl as she leans over to fix the bike-lamp passes a small note into his shirt pocket.
Participants: A SCHOOL GIRL - THE YOUNG MAN FROM THE BICYCLE SHOP - EN ELDERLY MAN - PASSERSBY
THE NOTE
00:37:30-00:39:28
The young man from the bicycle shop walks briskly across a neighborhood. Some children play with a ball, a woman in black feeds her child on a terrace. The young man enters an isolated church with great caution. He crosses himself and quickly lights two candles. He takes out the note and hides it in a corner of the church. A woman watches out of the window. As the young man leaves, the mother with the child in her arms enters the church and goes straight to the place where the note is hidden. She reads it carefully and lets it turn to ash in the flame of the candles.
Participants: THE YOUNG MAN - A MOTHER – CHILDREN PLAYING
VASILIKI
00:39:29-00:41:56
The mother, without the child this time, walks along an alley in the neighborhood. She stops near a beautiful girl also in black, who is white-washing the wall of her house. It is Vasiliki. We hear (off) her account of events: "On that day, a neighbor came up to me and said: 'Meet me in the fields tomorrow at noon'. I didn't ask the reason why, because in those days we had to do as we were told without asking questions. Without telling anyone, not even my own mother, I went to the fields the following day at noon". Vasiliki goes on with her narrative and refers to the signals she would use to make contact with a stranger who would come in a car.
Participants: VASILIKI - THE MOTHER – PASSERSBY
VASILIKI MEETS GRIGORIS
00:41:57-00:43:29
Vasiliki recalls how they first met: she was working in the fields with Grigoris, the boss's nephew, a handsome young man. They liked each other. Grigoris was true to his word and asked the girl's father for his daughter's hand in marriage. And so Vasiliki and Grigoris were engaged.
Participants: VASILIKI - GRIGORIS – WOMEN FARMERS
THE CAR RIDE
00:43:30-00:46:59
A car pulls up at the remote house on the edge of the extensive field. The driver asks her for some water. Vasiliki gives him some and he says: "To zeidoros" (meaning fertile, life-giving. Also, 'Zidros', which is partisan's Grigoris Afxentiou' nickname). That was the secret phrase and Vasiliki follows him to the car. Vasiliki remains silent all along the car ride, although she wants to ask where they are going. At some point along the way they come to a British road block. The man asks Vasiliki to lie down and make believe she is in pain. A group of British soldiers searches the car, near a burning British lorry loaded with trussed up Cypriot hostages. Not finding anything suspicious, the British let the car through. Vasiliki (off) refers to the dead on both sides, to her fiancé who is wanted.
Participants: VASILIKI - THE CAR DRIVER - BRITISH SOLDIERS
VASILIKI'S CLANDESTINE WEDDING TO GRIGORIS
00:47:00-00:54:16
The car pulls up at an abandoned monastery that Vasiliki had visited during her school years. A priest known as "The Teacher" waits in one of the abandoned cells, without knowing the reason he was sent for. Suddenly the door opens and Grigoris steps in, followed by three armed partisans. He asks her to marry him and Vasiliki accepts with tears in her eyes. At the wine-press, the priest's wife and niece lend Vasiliki a white dress with black dots. The wedding takes place in the cell with olive-tree branches serving as makeshift wedding wreaths. "Teacher" the priest gives his blessing, while the chanters' part is played by Grigoris' companions. In Grigoris' mind, the words of God from the Gospel are intertwined with scenes from his armed struggle and the sound of gunfire.
Participants: VASILIKI - THE CAR DRIVER - GRIGORIS – PAPAKOSTAS – PARTISAN - THE PRIST'S WIFE – THE NIECE
STORY I – THE CLOCK. INTRODUCTION. OPENING TITLES
00:00:53-00:03:31
Story I. The Clock. Ermoupolis, Syros, 12 May 1943. The Italian commander of the Occupation forces, escorted by soldiers and an interpreter, patrols various parts in town, where nothing seems to be functioning and none of the inhabitants seems to be in the mood for working. The shots of the Italians are interspersed with the titles of the first story. At first, the Italians come across three fishermen pulling their boat out to a sandy beach. They have run out of petrol, there in not a fish in the sea and for lack of food, the fishermen do not even have the strength to row. The Italians want to give petrol to the fishermen, but they won't accept. They are afraid of the mines. The Italians wonder: If nobody works, what is going to happen?
Participants: ITALIAN SOLDIERS – FISHERMEN – PEOPLE OF SYROS
THE PARTISANS LEAVE WITH VASILIKI FOR THE MOUNTAIN
00:54:17-00:55:10
After the wedding ceremony, the partisans and Vasiliki set out uphill to the mountain tops.
Participants: THE PARTISANS - VASILIKI
THE WEDDING NIGHT
00:55:11-01:02:35
In a poor room made of bricks, the newlyweds finish their simple meal in the dark. They talk about the fight against the British. Grigoris is hopeful about the future and says that it will be over one day. "Let's talk about things that do not come to an end". They clear away the table. Grigoris lies down. Vasiliki tells him about the days she has spent picking oranges, the new factory at Famagusta, with equipment imported from Israel, which will provide employment for 200-300 women, and his hair, which has grown long and she would love to give it a trim. She holds his hand while she is talking and Grigoris, tired out after walking all night, can hardly keep his eyes open. "Let's hope the fighting is over soon and you can settle in your home … our home". As she lies down beside him, a bomb goes off in the quiet of the night. Grigoris tells her not to be afraid because "fear is man's enemy". They drink wine out of the same glass. Vasiliki takes off her make-believe wedding dress, but she loathes leaving it on the rifles and the dynamite. Taking notice of her dilemma, Grigoris gallantly spreads his shirt on the floor so that she can place the dress on it. He knew only too well that they would part before dawn and time passed so quickly. Life itself went on even faster (shots of a partisan smoking outside). The couple lie down in bed in amorous disposition. Past midnight, when Grigoris has fallen asleep, Vasiliki sits up beside him as if to keep him safe from danger. At some point she dozes off.
Participants: VASILIKI - GRIGORIS - A PARTISAN
VASILIKI'S DREAM
01:02:36-01:05:58
In her dream, Vasiliki wakes up in the same bed, which is in the sea. The place at the white pillow beside her is empty. She wades in the water and comes upon an old woman in black, sowing away at the edge of the sea, who tells her that someone is looking for her. A soldier who resembles Grigoris asks her for some water to quench his thirst. Vasiliki takes it over her wedding dress spread on the sand and is about to offer it to him, when he walks off and disappears in the distance. Holding the glass on the empty beach, Vasiliki stumbles among some scattered jugs. Further down, Grigoris lies motionless on the sand. Clasping her head with both hands, Vasilliki is torn apart with pain.
Participants: VASILIKI - GRIGORIS - A SOLDIER – AN OLD WOMAN IN BLACK
GRIGORIS GOES AWAY
01:05:59-01:07:08
Her dream is interrupted by a knock on the door. "It's dawn," a partisan calls out. Reduced to tears, Vasiliki begs Grigoris to stay. He comforts her tenderly and gets ready to leave. The girl wants to know when she will see him again and then breaks down, sobbing alone on the bed.
Participants: VASILIKI - GRIGORIS - A PARTISAN
I NEVER SAW HIM AGAIN
01:07:09-01:07:41
Leaving their shelter for the night, with the sun high up in the sky, Vasiliki goes down he mountainside, wearing her "wedding dress". "That was how we met that day, got married and went away … I never saw him again" (narration over). She turns and looks at the house-shelter of stone at the top. The end.
Participants: VASILIKI
STORY III – THE OPPONENTS. INTRODUCTION. OPENING TITLES
01:07:42-01:08:43
Story III. The opponents. Opening titles. Cinematic takes of battles, bombardments, devastated cities and German military parades during World War II. The story is set in Patras, in the autumn of 1943, a year before the withdrawal of the German occupation troops.
Participants: GERMAN SOLDIERS
TRIANTAFYLLOU'S FAMILY STATELY HOME
01:08:44-01:12:03
In the stately, spacious apartment of an imposing neo-classical building, the bald black-marketer counts out the money to the landlady. Objects of great value have been gradually removed from the house: paintings, furniture etc. When he finishes counting, the black-marketer puts the rest of the money in a small bag and walks across to the other room to pick up the carpet. At the other end of the carpet, Mr. Triantafyllos, the landlord, stands tall and rigid like rock. Rolling up the carpet to the landlord's feet, the black-marketer reminds him that there are people dying of starvation. The landlord's wife comes along. She begs of him to reconsider and succeeds in overcoming her husband's stubbornness. He steps quietly off the carpet, but all of a sudden he goes over the top and yells at the black-marketer, who takes to his heels with the carpet on his shoulder: "This carpet has been here for 80 years!" In a moment, a prefecture servant shows up at the door and tells them that a German officer will settle in one of the rooms and that the prefect has fallen into disfavor and there is nothing he can do to prevent this from happening. With unyielding resolution and fuming with rage, Mr. Triantafyllou asserts that no German will ever settle in his house, whereupon he is congratulated by the prefecture servant
Participants: THE COUPLE TRIANTAFYLLOY – A PORTER - A BLACK-MARKETER – A PEPFECTURE SERVANT
THE GERMAN ARRIVES AT THE TRIANTAFYLLOU'S RESIDENCE
01:12:04-01:13:23
A German car pulls up at the entrance to the Triantaffylou's residence. A fair-haired German officer arrives at the apartment. He makes the Nazi salute to the hosts in the sitting-room. Mr. Triantafyllou responds: "Long live Greece". The German says something in his tongue. He is probably enquiring about the room."So what? Leave him". She looks scared, calls her husband unreasonable and finally escorts the officer to his room.
Participants: THE COUPLE TRIANTAFYLLOY
THE COUPLE MAKES FUN OF THE GERMAN
01:13:24-01:16:38
The German officer brings a book along to the sitting-room; the owners are already there. Looking up from the chess he has been playing by himself, Mr. Triantafyllou gives the German, trying to read his book, a most stern steady look. The latter is upset and turns to look at the Greek, who smiles broadly at him and stands up. The German offers a cigarette to Mrs. Triantafyllou, but she declines. Her husband follows through with an even more ironic smile under his hat, which he has pulled down to his ears. Clearly disturbed, the German is forced to leave the room and the couple fall about laughing. Mr. Triantafyllou cracks a joke in an official tone: "Vermacht special announcement. Because of superior enemy hat, the German forces were compelled to redeploy. They are pulling back at all the fronts; they will pull back from here, too".
Participants: THE COUPLE TRIANTAFYLLOY – THE GERMAN OFFICER
THE SALE OF THE ARMCHAIRS
01:16:39-01:17:52
Sitting on a heavy chair carved out of wood and reserved for official visitors, Mr. Triantafyllou hears with resentment the black-marketer, faking a miserable look, count out the money to the landlady. As he is about to take the chair away, Mr. Triantafyllou stands up and says in a voice wobbling with emotion: "King George I himself sat on this chair". The black-marketer takes his leave. The wife is off to prepare the meal. The valuable chairs are taken outside the stately house, at the entrance.
Participants: THE COUPLE TRIANTAFYLLOY – THE PORTER - THE BLACK MARKETER
THE WHEEL TIRES BECOME SANDALS
00:03:32-00:06:18
The Italians continue on their way along the alleys on Syros and go past closed shops and workshops. They go into a stable, where a horse is neighing. They look at the clock on the church. My, what time is it, the commander wonders in Italian. Then he spots a civilian cutting up the wheel tires of his car to make sandals and sell in the villages; he has a wife and children to support. The car needs petrol, spare parts, oil. As for the passengers, "they either go on foot or are carried on their back". And anyway, how can a car travel without passengers? The commander offers to send more wheel tires so that the man can get the car back on the road. "Send me used tires to make shoes with," replies the man from Syros. The commander wonders again: "What will happen if everything stops?"
Participants: ITALIAN SOLDIERS – THE ITALIAN COMMANDER – THE INTERPETER – PEOPLE FROM SYROS - A SANDAL MAKER
THE CONFRONTATION
01:17:53-01:20:47
The hostess is bent over her embroidery. The two men, Mr. Triantafyllou and the German, sit facing each other, holding a book each. The host has an idea and his face lights up. He stands up and goes into the other room. He comes back with a carnival-time moustache fixed up on the forehead above the eyebrows. This infuriates the German, who realizes that his host has played a joke on him, and walks out of the room terribly offended by this. With a roar of laughter, Mr. Triantafyllou comments jokingly: "Another Vermacht announcement: Under combined enemy action, the German army has pulled back from the sitting-room. The enemy is all-out on the offensive". Just then, the German returns with two pears on his ears like earrings. He sits provocatively opposite his hosts, but comes under "attack" by Mr. Triantafyllou, who goes for the ear but bites the pear. With a loud cry, the German grabs him by the lapel. Sirens begin to wail, there is black-out and the three people stand still, touching one another. There are bomb explosions. The couple and the German gaze at the ceiling. It looks as if time has frozen.
Participants: THE COUPLE TRIANTAFYLLOY – THE GERMAN OFFICER
THE VISIT OF THE "MORALE – BOOSTER"
01:20:48-01:26:24
The German officer, disturbed by the host who won't leave him alone, is seated on two chairs that he has pulled up by the sunlit window. The Greek won't let him out of his sight. Having spread out his legs luxuriously, the German tries to enjoy his cigarette. The doorbell rings. Mr. Triantafyllou opens the door and lets in a tall, thin man. He carries a small bag and apologizes for being late for the appointment because of ever increasing volume of work. He talks about the war and the fate of Europe. Why conclude a treaty with the enemy when you can win a crushing victory? Hitler, therefore, will sustain a crushing defeat. It is better to lose a battle and eventually win the war. Mr. Triantafyllou takes down from the wall a map of Europe, while the lean visitor starts taking out of his suitcase a series of military toys: warships, toy planes, tanks. He spreads them across the map and go over his plan in detail: landing operations in the Mediterranean and the seizure of Vienna, the city of great artists. The allies will crush the Axis Powers. They sing La Marseillaise. The visitor's passionate speech encourages Triantafyllou all the more: "In spring I am in Berlin. The war is over ….Let peace and prosperity reign on earth". After their game, they are back to the harsh reality of adult life. Mr. Triantafyllou gives his "morale-booster" raisins, a big potato and sees him off, renewing their appointment for the following day. The "morale-booster" has several more calls to make, but he will try to be on time.
Participants: MR. TRAINATAFYLLOU – THE "MORALE BOOSTER" - THE GERMAN OFFICER
"DOG FIGHT"
01:26:25-01:28:33
After the morale-boosting visit, Mr. Triantafyllou opens the door to the room where the German has comfortably settled down, takes a seat and stares at him with increasing hostility. The German tries to ignore the Greek's provocation, but then he realizes that the man is a threat to him, akin to a barking dog ready to attack. The German rises to the challenge and before long the two men are down on all four, barking and going on at each other with their teeth. Just like two dogs that cannot coexist at the same place, the two men chase one another around, barking and threateningly showing their teeth.The "dog fight" is over when terrified Mrs. Triantafyllou walks in their midst on her way to the balcony.
Participants: THE COUPLE TRIANTAFYLLOY – THE GERMAN OFFICER
THE MORALE-BOOSTER'S ARREST
01:28:34-01:30:08
In the street, outside the apartment, a German patrol has arrested the "morale-booster". They torture him by pouring jets of water over his face with a hose so that he cannot breathe. Triantafillou grabs the German by the lapel and cries out: "See this?" With nothing to say, the German straightens his uniform and goes outside, determinedly. He reprimands the officer in charge of the patrol, who has already stopped torturing the man. Mr. Triantafyllou fills up a jug of water, goes down in the street and gives his visitor water. The man is very happy and grateful to his friend.
Participants: THE COUPLE TRIANTAFYLLOY – THE GERMAN OFFICER – THE MORAL BOOSTER - A GERMAN PATROL
THE GERMAN'S WITHDRAWAL
01:30:09-01:34:10
Shaken by the event, Mr. Triantafyllou returns to the apartment and slumps into a chair in the hall. His wife tells him that the German is packing his things to go. The officer looks at himself in the mirror, picks up his two suitcases, opens the apartment door, steps outside and walks away without saying a word. Behind him, the host calls him every name a bold patriot would think of: "Out with you, coward, inhuman, tyrant, robber! Out with you, plunderer, cannibal, wolf, robot, unfeeling, monster, the devil-himself!" The German with his suitcases gets into the lift. Having taken it off his system, the Greek steps into the corridor behind him. The developments and the change in the course of events have proved him right. Before the German can press the button in the lift, the Greek walks right up to the wire mesh door and looks his opponent in the eye. There is a benevolent farewell growl, something like saying thanks to the uninvited intruder, who leaves the battlefield picking up the pieces of his shattered pride. The German responds with a similar growl, something like an apology and a farewell bid. Both sides carry on growling, in the same spirit, as the lift goes down. The Greek goes back home deep in thought but satistied, too. He feels as if his human existence has been reinstated. As he shuts the door behind him, one of Chopin's Polonaises fills the air.
Participants: THE COUPLE TRIANTAFYLLOY – THE GERMAN OFFICER
CART FOR SALE WITHOUT THE DONKEY
00:06:19-00:09:23
The Italians continue on their way. They look again at the big clock on the island. Further down, there is a cart for sale "without the donkey". The Commander suspects the donkey was sold for meat. The butcher across the street and the tavern keeper further down could have been implicated in the "crime". When the locals take notice of the Italians, they shut and bolt their windows. Disappointed and with a lot of baffling questions, the commander steps aside to let pass a silent funeral procession. An old woman is burning incense out of her window. The commander spots an old man sitting in his doorway and tries to share with him the unresolved questions that seem to trouble him. "This one pulls his boat out of the sea, that one dismantles his car. One eats donkey meat, another dies. What will happen if everyone stops doing things?" To the Italian's disappointment, however, the old man is deaf.
Participants: THE COMMANDER - THE INTERPETER – A DEAF OLD MAN – ITALIAN SOLDIERS - PEOPLE OF SYROS
THE CLOCK NEEDS OIL
00:09:24-00:12:37
Having lost all hope by now, the commander, invariably followed by his cohorts, goes past the cathedral. The big church clock on the bell tower has stopped ticking. The non-commissioned officer that serves as the interpreter is looking for the verger but to no avail. There is not a soul in the church. They press on and reach the Town Hall, where the commander meets the Mayor at the stairs of the stately building in Ermoupolis. This is not an act of sabotage. The church clock is not working because it needs oil. The commander promises to have some sent straight away, despite the widespread shortage of oil, to oil the clock.
Participants: ITALIAN SOLDIERS - THE COMMANDER – THE INTERPETER– THE MAYOR
THE OIL IS DELIVERED TO THE MAYOR
00:12:38-00:15:54
The Italians continue on their way and reach the garrison. To help with the oil transport, the interpreter enlists the services of a local person, who happened to be passing by the garrison. Out on the garrison balcony, the Commander is now happy that things are falling into place and sings "Sole mio" away to himself. Escorted by the non-commissioned officer, the Syrian shoulders the demijohn of oil and heads for the Mayor's house. Then the interpreter dismisses him. The Mayor steps out into the street to collect the Italian commander's "gift". At last, the cathedral clock will start ticking again. The Mayor and the Italian make a funny salute to each other imitating the sound of the bell ringing when the time comes: Ding-dong! Ding-dong! The clock will start ticking right away. The interpreter leaves and the Mayor goes into the house with the oil in his arms.
Participants: ITALIAN SOLDIERS - THE COMMANDER – THE INTERPETER– THE MAYOR - A PERSON FROM SYROS
THE MAYOR DELIVERS THE OIL TO THE MUNICIPAL SECRETARY
00:15:55-00:17:33
Holding a big bottle wrapped in paper, the Mayor goes to the house of the Municipal secretary. The clock has to function as soon as possible, after the oil is delivered immediately to the president of the parish committee. With immense pleasure bordering on the sensuality of a tango dancer towards his dance partner, the secretary unwraps the bottle of oil.
Participants: THE MAYOR - THE MUNICIPALITY SECRETARY
THE SECRETARY HANDS THE OIL OVER TO THE PRESIDENT
00:17:34-00:20:04
A three-member family, namely the president of the parish's, are seated at the dinner table. There is a knock on the front door. The secretary, authorized by the Mayor, hands over to the president a bottle of oil (smaller in size than the previous one). At first, the president won't carry it and the secretary leaves the bottle outside the front door. A hand reaches out and grabs the bottle. The president's wife wants to keep the oil. Besides, they have to provide for their small child. The couple have a fight and get physical.
Participants: THE SECRETARY - THE PREDIDENT – HIS WIFE AND CHILD
THE PRESIDENT HANDS THE OIL OVER TO THE WATCHMAKER
00:20:05-00:21:42
The president of the parish takes an (even smaller) bottle of oil, wrapped up in paper, to the watchmaker's workshop. The watchmaker tells him that a cacophonous church chorister suggested oiling the clock with vinegar: "With vinegar! Well, I'll never. It needs oil!" The president gives him the oil and explains that it is sent by the Italian commander to be used on the clock. The watchmaker looks excited. "Italy is famed for its oil". Then he reassures him with a meaningful look that the oil will suffice for its intended purpose. The president takes his leave and the watchmaker tastes the oil.
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