Young Aphrodites

Young Aphrodites
Directed by Nikos Koundouros
Produced by Minos films
Written by Kostas Sfikas
Vassilis Vassilikos
Starring Kleopatra Rota
Eleni Prokopiou
Takis Emmanouil
Vaggelis Ioannidis
Zannino
Anestis Vlachos
Kostas Papakonstantinou
Vasilis Kailas
Music by Giannis Markopoulos
Release date(s) 1963
Country Greece
Language Greek

Young Aphrodites (Greek: Μικρές Αφροδίτες, translit. Mikres Afrodites) is an award-winning drama film of 1963 directed by Nikos Koundouros based on a script of Vassilis Vassilikos.

Contents

Plot

In 200 BC, a nomadic group of shepherds, in search of new pastures, leave the mountains to settle close to a fishing village. The women of the village hide and the only ones to venture out are Arta, the fisherman's wife, and a twelve-year-old girl, Chloe.

Skymnos, a young shepherd, approaches Chloe who walks semi-naked around the rocks and the beach. Among the two children begins a tantalising game, which does not clearly end up with the couple having intercourse; as a sign of his affection, Skymnos catches a pelican for Chloe and mounts it on a gantry. On the other hand, although Arta initially rejects Tsakalos, she finally succumbs and the couple meets in a cave where Skymnos and Chloe can watch through a crack in the rock.

When the shepherds decide to leave, Skymnos refuses to follow them. Lykas, a mute teenage shepherd, finds Chloe and rapes her. When Skymnos witnesses this scene, he unties the dead pelican, throws its corpse into the sea and allows himself to be swept away.

Production notes

Many of the actors were actually sheepherders. The film is based on the fable of Daphnis and Chloe.

Awards

References

External links