The Chronicles of Amoronia: Manos Hatzidakis

Wednesday, August 25, 2010

August Moon

The moon in August is truly glorious... I cannot but associate it with femininity in its most attractive form. From Reflections, the 1970 album composed by Manos Hadjidakis for the band New York Rock and Roll Ensemble, with English lyrics, comes this piece - adapted by the Greek band Raining Pleasure (2005).

She was a lady once of noble name,
noble dame.
She has a silver ring from her king
Give her a nickel, take her out to dine,
give her wine.
Comfort her if she sighs and then cries

Look for her by the fountain on the road, say hello.
Don’t be afraid to smile and then go.
And if you see her talking to herself all alone.
Leave her alone, her heart is at home.

She was a lady once without a care,
golden hair.
She was the only friend of the king
Maybe she’Il come and ask you for your name,
noble Dame.
We’ll give our love to her on her way.

Look for her by the fountain on the road, say hello.
Don’t be afraid to smile and then go.
And if you see her talking to herself all alone.
Leave her alone, her heart is at home.

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 who happens to be a classical scholar, enthused with all things Greek. While 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. The screenplay 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 1960s and brought Manos Hadjidakis, the composer, an Academy Award. It should also be noted that apart from winning the Academy Award for Best Song, the film was also nominated for Best Actress in a Leading Role (Melina Mercouri), Best Costume Design, Black-and-White, Best Director (Jules Dassin) and Best Writing, Story and Screenplay - Written Directly for the Screen (Dassin). Mercouri won the award for Best Actress at the 1960 Cannes Film Festival.

Life Magazine Dec 2 1966 by Owlshop