Movie
ISLAND OF SILENCE (ΤHE)
English titleNISSI TIS SIOPIS (TO)
The film is a dramatized documentary, a study that revives life at Spinalogka, the exile of the lepers. We watch romantic and emotional adventures, ideological and sentimental conflicts featuring the patients, doctors and several locals. The doctor Stathis Chtenas (Giorgos Kampanellis) is disappointed at the situation on the island and confesses to the teacher (Orestis Markris) that he wants to leave soon. Their life changes with the arrival of a young volunteer doctor, Angela (Nina Sgouridou), whose dynamic presence transforms life on the island. Stathis and Angela become a couple and make everything to improve life at Spinalonga. However, on the occasion of young Sifis’s (Tzannis Kourkoulakos) “escape” from the island, Stathis’s attitude changes. After several adventures, Stathis reveals to Angela that as a young boy he was a leper, but he was cured in Switzerland. Finally, after a decision by the Ministry of Health, Spinalonga closes down.
- Production Year 1958
- First Greek Screening 08/12/1958
- Color B/W
- Audio SOUND MONO
- Director KOURKOULAKOU LILA
- Production MESOGEIOS FILM
- Script Writer CHATZIGIANNIS VANGELIS
- Director of Cinematography GARDELIS NIKOS
- Editing TSAOULIS GIORGOS
- COM_DIGITAL_COLLECTION_ASSISTANTSDIRECTOR_LABEL SPYROPOULOU GIANNA, NASTOS KOSTAS
- Cinematography Assistant Directors BEKRIS A., KALAINTZIS S., KATRAPA GIOTA
- Production Managers CHATZIGIANNIS VANGELIS, KOURKOULAKOU LILA
- Makeup artist STAVRAKAKIS GIORGOS, XEPAPADAKOS NIKOS
- Musicians MOUZOURAKIS G., ATHENS SYMPHONY ORCHESTRA
- Dancer SAPOUNTAKIS M.
- Sound Engineer ZERVAS MARKOS
- Set Photographers KORAIS KOSTAS, GOGONIS SPYROS
- MAKRIS ORESTIS
- SGOURIDOU NINA
- KAMPANELLIS GIORGOS
- SPARIDIS GIANNIS
- KOURKOULAKOS TZANNIS
- ANGELIDIS RALLIS
- AVATANGELOU NITSA
- SOULIS DIMITRIS
- LAZIDOU MAIRI
- AVRAMEAS NIKOS
- CHRYSOLORAS K.
- BENARDIS P.
- STAVRINOUDAKIS KOSTAS
- LACHANAS SYLVIOS
- NASTOS T.
- NTELERNO GIORGOS
- KALAINTZIS S.
- MANOLAKOS N.
- GALANIS E.
- CHRISTIANIDIS N.
- CHATZIIOANNIDIS G.
- KOKKINOU LITSA
- SOULI G.
- KOUMOUTSI GEORGIA
- PERROU M.
- VYZANTINOU A.
- KALOGEROPOULOU TH.
- BEKRIS A.
- MORAITIS I.
- MAVROUDIS TZ.
- SERALIS K.
- LACHANA AMALIA
12 photographs about this movie
57 themes about this movie
OPENING TITLES
00:00:00-01:01:37
Opening titles
THE DOCTOR’S RESERVATIONS
00:13:25-00:15:03
The doctor briefs his replacement and is rather concerned, as she is a woman who, in his mind, will not manage to withstand the hardships. Anyway, during the six months he has spent on the island, in addition to the dangers he faces daily, he is constantly on the verge of a breakdown. The female doctor comments that Venizelos was the only politician who somewhat took care of the lepers. She states that she asked specifically to come to Spinalonga - and that she is determined.
Participants: THE DOCTOR - AGGELA
ANESTIS INFORMS THE PATIENTS ABOUT AGGELA’S ARRIVAL
00:15:04-00:15:35
Anestis walks unannounced in a room where two lepers make love and informs them that a new doctor has arrived and she is a stunner. The man raises and follows Anestis, while the girl, with pronounced marks of her disease on her face, watches them as they leave.
Participants: ANESTIS - TWO LEPERS MAKING LOVE
AGGELA WINS THE PATIENTS’ HEARTS
00:15:36-00:16:34
A month has gone by and Aggela seems to have won over the patients’ hearts. She encourages them constantly, while at the same time she places emphasis on commitment and self-esteem. Her presence and her contribution seem to have transformed relationships in this secluded community.
Participants: AGGELA - SEVERAL PATIENTS - LITTLE SIFIS
THE DOCTOR’S AND TEACHER’S ENTHUSIASM
00:16:35-00:17:33
In the laboratory, the doctor and the teacher talk about the great changes that Aggela brought about in the lepers’ community. Only Anestis isn’t tamed yet. Their enthusiasm is such that the doctor contemplates remaining on the islet next to her, while the teacher likens her to a benevolent witch.
Participants: THE DOCTOR - THE TEACHER
AGGELA LEARNS ABOUT THE STEAL OF MORPHINE
00:17:34-00:18:11
Aggela goes to the coffee shop and greets the patrons. Anestis asks Sifis to help him steal morphine again. The young one refuses and is beaten up. Immediately, he runs to inform Aggela that Anestis has a passkey and every night he steals morphine from the infirmary.
Participants: AGGELA - SIFIS - ANESTIS - SEVERAL PATIENTS
AGGELA COVERS UP FOR ANESTIS
00:18:12-00:20:37
Anestis, with the help of another patient, breaks in the infirmary at night, where Aggela catches him red-handed stealing. Despite his disability, he attacks her violently. The doctor hears a noise, goes to the infirmary and sees Anestis fallen on the floor. Aggela covers up for Anestis saying that they walked in together to get a painkiller and he tripped.
Participants: AGGELA - STATHIS - ANESTIS - A PATIENT
AGGELA FEELS DIZZY AT THE COFFEHOUSE
00:20:38-00:22:00
Angela plays poker with patients at the coffehouse. Anestis, who loses, seems to be transformed, without a hint of cynicism or brashness. A patient informs the doctor that a girl is about to give birth and as Aggela rises she feels dizzy. Anestis is the first one to ask what is going on. She says that she is just tired and leaves. Anestis wants to notify Stathis that Angela felt dizzy.
Participants: AGGELA - ANESTIS – A FEMALE PATIENT – SEVERAL PATIENTS PLAYING CARDS
THE TEACHER TEACHES
00:22:01-00:22:45
The old teacher teaches patiently a class of little beasts. Someone walks in and notifies him that the doctor wants to see him. The teacher calls a break.
Participants: THE TEACHER - PUPILS - AN INHABITANT OF THE ISLET
ΤHE CAIQUE WITH SUPPLIES
00:22:46-00:23:15
Τhe caique with supplies is docked at the small harbor. Someone tries to sell a bottle of brandy to Anestis, who violently and decisively announces that he has stopped drinking.
Participants: ANESTIS - SEVERAL PATIENTS
AGGELA’S OVERWORK
00:23:16-00:24:05
The doctor with the teacher are at Aggela’s pillow. She is in a state of lethargy. Several patients come and ask about her health. The doctor says that this is due to overwork and they shouldn’t worry. Little Sifis arrives. The doctor reprimands him and sends him off. The teacher walks out with him.
Participants: AGGELA- THE DOCTOR – THE TEACHER – SIFIS – SOME PATIENTS
SPINALOGKA
00:01:38-00:02:41
We see the rocky islet of Spinalogka. The narrator presents several historical facts as well as provides information about leprosy and the Leprosarium. Greek Hansen’s patients (leprosy is also known as Hansen’s disease) live there secluded from the rest of the world.
THE TEACHER COMFORTS SIFIS
00:24:06-00:24:29
The teacher comforts young Sifis, who sees Aggela as his dead mother and fears he is going to lose her, too. He assures him that Aggela will soon be well again. The young boy cries and hugs his teacher.
Participants: THE TEACHER - SIFIS
SIFIS’S PRAYER
00:24:30-00:25:37
At night, Sifis hides in Aggela’s room and prays at her side for her recovery. Aggela, in her delirium, mentions the doctor’s name: Stathis.
Participants: AGGELA - SIFIS
THE DOCTORS FALL IN LOVE
00:25:38-00:26:07
On a deserted beach we see the two doctors contemplating a visit to Athens in order to take care of Spinalogka matters at the Ministry of Health.
Participants: AGGELA - STATHIS
SIFIS PLAYS THE PIANO
00:26:08-00:27:17
In the empty coffehouse, Sifis tries to play on the piano "When will we see the clear skies of freedom again". His dream is to become a pianist and play on the radio. Aggela encourages him to get a solfege method and learn how to play by reading the notes. The teacher, the coffehouse owner and the doctor contribute to Sifis’s piggybank, who goes to bed thanking them politely.
Participants: SIFIS - THE TECHER - THE DOCTOR – THE COFFEEHOUSE KEEPER - AGGELA
THE MEDICINE FOR LEPROSY
00:27:18-00:28:18
The teacher with the couple of doctors remains seated at the coffehouse. They talk about solmougra, a rare fruit from the forests of Indonesia, which, in the local dialect, means "woman’s heart". The medicine for leprosy is made from its fruit and was discovered in 1928.
Participants: AGGELA - STATHIS - THE TEACHER
THE HISTORY OF A LEPER BOY THIRTY YEARS AGO
00:28:19-00:30:24
Then, the teacher remembers that 30 years ago, in 1928, before he fell ill, he was working at a village and the rangers searched for a young boy suffering from leprosy (we watch scenes in a flashback). All the inhabitants of the village were worried. When they found the child asleep in a barn, the villagers beat it and, content, they burned all his clothes. Later on, he found out that the child, that escaped with the help of a rich uncle of his, left for Switzerland. Upon hearing that story, the doctor, looking sick all of a sudden, reacts strangely and leaves with Aggela.
Participants: THE TEACHER - STATHIS - AGGELA – THE RANGERS – THE INHABITANTS OF A CRETAN VILLAGE – A LEPER BOY
THE TEACHER ASKS AGGELA ABOUT STATHIS’S FATHER
00:30:25-00:31:14
The teacher visits Aggela, who is examining a patient at the infirmary, asking her discreetly about Stathis’s father. He also says that they have been left without a doctor.
Participants: AGGELA - THE TEACHER - A FEMALE PATIENT
STATHIS LOSES HIS INTEREST IN HIS WORK
00:31:15-00:31:29
Stathis, who seems to have lost his interest in work, is in his room and refers his patients to Aggela.
Participants: STATHIS - A PATIENT
SIFIS IS INTERESTED IN A PIANO RECITAL AT HERAKLEION
00:31:30-00:32:25
At school, the children play at the teacher’s absence. Aggela goes to substitute for the teacher and gives the children a magazine. Sifis cuts a page referring to a piano recital in Herakleion and places the clipping in his pocket.
Participants: THE PUPILS - AGGELA - SIFIS
TIRED STATHIS BECOMES RUDE
00:32:26-00:33:30
Stathis looks at himself in the mirror and seems exhausted. He continues to refer all patients who come to his door to Aggela.
Participants: STATHIS - TWO FEMALE PATIENTS
STEALING MORPHINE
00:02:42-00:04:06
Two patients, the elderly handicapped Anestis and young Sifis, violate at night the storeroom with medicines in order to steal morphine. The old man shoots an injection brought to him by the boy.
Participants: SIFIS - ANESTIS
AGGELA AT CHURCH
00:33:31-00:34:29
Aggela is at church. Among the chanters is a blind patient. The generator is out of order and mess continues in the dark. The two patients who had been expelled by Stathis find the doctor and make arrangements with her.
Participants: AGGELA – THE PATIENTS AS CHANTERS – A BLIND CHANTER
ANGELA TALKS TO THE PRIEST
:00:34:30-00:35:16
After mass, Angela talks to the priest who praises her behavior and refers to the great changes brought about by her presence in the community.
Participants: Angela – The priest – The patients
AGGELA PROPOSES TO STATHIS TO GO TO ATHENS
00:35:17-00:36:55
Aggela tenderly tries to support irritable Stathis and proposes to him to go to Athens for a little while. The return to the city they longed for and the change of place will be beneficial for them. Finally, Stathis agrees.
Participants: AGGELA - STATHIS
ΤHE COUPLE HAS FUN IN ATHENS
00:36:56-00:38:10
We see the Akropolis. At a night club, the couple dances closely embraced. They seem to be in love and Stathis seems to find his interest in life again.
Participants: STATHIS - AGGELA - THE PATRONS OF A NIGHTCLUB
AT THE MINISTRY OF HEALTH
00:38:11-00:39:59
At the Ministry of Health, the director invokes the bureaucratic process that has to be followed until financial aid arrives. Τhe couple informs him that the amount in question has already been accepted by the Minister and everything is simplified.
Participants: AGGELA - STATHIS - THE DIRECTOR OF THE MINISTRY OF HEALTH
SIFIS IN HERAKLEION
00:40:00-00:41:23
In Herakleion, Sifis wanders looking for the cinema where the piano recital will take place. A young bootblack proposes to accompany him, in exchange for a shoeshine.
Participants: SIFIS - A YOUNF BOOTBLACK – SEVERAL PASSERSBY
SIFIS AND THE YOUNG BOOTBLACK TALK
00:41:24-00:41:59
On the way to te cinema, the children share their views on the cinema, the lies and truths of the screen.
Participants: A YOUNG BOOTBLACK – SIFIS – SEVERAL PASSERSBY
A THIEF STEALS SIFIS’S MONEY
00:42:00-00:42:36
The children stand ecstatically before the cinema and look at the photographs and the announcement of the concert. A man steals Sifis’s money and escapes, while the two boys run after him.
Participants: SIFIS – THE YOUNG BOOTBLACK - A THIEF - SEVERAL PASSERSBY
ΤHE COUPLE RETURNS TO SPINALOGKA
00:42:37-00:43:45
The teacher and the patients receive the couple of doctors at the harbor. Their happiness is lessened by the news that Sifis has left for Agios Nikolaos on a boat.
Participants: AGGELA - STATHIS - THE TEACHER - THE PATIENTS
SIFIS IS ALONE IN AN IDYLLIC LANDSCAPE
00:43:46-00:44:42
Sifis is alone in an idyllic landscape, near a cistern full of water. He takes off his clothes and falls in the water.
Participants: SIFIS
A FEMALE PATIENT EXPRESSES HER INTEREST IN DOCTOR CHTENAS
00:04:07-00:05:24
The doctor Stathis Chtenas visits a female patient who makes a sexual advance towards him and confesses her need for a man and for having a child. Cursing her illness, the doctor comforts her.
Participants: PATIENT KONSTANTIS – A DISAPPOINTED FEMALE PATIENT- THE DOCTOR STATHIS CHTENAS
SIFIS IS ACCUSED UNJUSTLY OF BESTIALITY
00:44:43-00:45:43
Sifis pulls a goat from a lead and turns her upside down, trying to drink milk from her teats. A female peasant notices him and chases him, accusing him of bestiality. Full of fear, the young boy takes off.
Participants: SIFIS - A FEMALE PEASANT
STATHIS ARGUES WITH THE TEACHER
00:45:44-00:46:31
At the Spinalonga infirmary, Stathis quarrels with the teacher. Despite Aggela’s supplication, he tries to notify the rangers of Sifis and shows determined. Disappointed, Aggela and the teacher leave.
Participants: AGGELA - STATHIS - THE TEACHER
SIFIS PRAYS
00:46:32-00:48:24
Sifis struggles to get on top of a steep hill. On the top with view to the sea there is a small church. The little prays, asking for forgiveness from Virgin Mary for his careless deeds and for his illness.
Participants: SIFIS
THE RANGERS ARE LOOKING FOR SIFIS
00:48:25-00:48:51
On a jeep, the doctor searches for Sifis from one village to the other. The peasant woman who chased him describes the incident with the goat and shows him to the garden outside the village. The search continues.
Participants: THE DOCTOR – THE RANGERS - A FEMALE PEASANT - A PEASANT
A YOUNG BOY RUNS AFTER SIFIS
00:48:52-00:49:15
Sifis has climbed on a fig tree and steals the fruit, but the barking of a dog forces him to step down. He passes below the barbed wire. A young man comes running and the child runs away.
Participants: SIFIS - A YOUNG BOY
A BOY STONES SIFIS
0:49:16-00:49:39
Sifis finds himself on a country road, when a loaded coach approaches. He goes to the side of the street, but a child of his age, who sits next to the driver, throws stones with a sling.
Participants: SIFIS - THE DRIVER OF A COACH - A BOY
THE SEARCH FOR SIFIS CONTINUES
:00:49:40-00:50:50
In a village coffeehouse, Stathis asks the patrons if they saw the blond boy and he explains that he suffers from leprosy, although the illness hasn't blown out. A father brings his child to the coffeehouse. The young boy says that he saw a young boy outside the village and the rangers leave immediately, looking for Sifis.
Participants: THE DOCTOR – THE PATRONS OF A COFFEEHOUSE - A FATHER – A CHILD - RANGERS
THE RANGERS ASK THE PEOPLE
00:50:51-00:51:01
The rangers ask passersby whether they have seen the child. Leprosy has reached their village.
Participants: THE RANGER - A DRUNKEN VILLAGER
STATHIS AND AGGELA IN A COFFEEHOUSE
00:51:02-00:52:24
As Stathis awaits rangers at the coffeehouse, he takes the opportunity to explain to the patrons certain things about curing the disease. At some point, AGgela arrives and Stathis tells her that the rangers will bring Sifis soon. The doctor sits alone at a table, while a drunken man preaches.
Participants: THE DOCTOR – THE PATRONS OF A COFFEEHOUSE - AGGELA - STHATHIS – A DRUNKEN
THE VILLAGERS SEARCH FOR SIFIS
00:52:25-00:52:48
At night, the villagers look for Sifis in several places.
Participants: THE VILLAGERS
THE ENTERTAINMENT OF THE EXILED
00:05:25-00:06:14
At the coffeehouse-taverna of the islet, the exiled suffering from the Hansen disease have fun dancing and drinking to the sound of the orchestra.
Participants: THE PATIENTS
STATHIS FINDS SIFIS
00:52:49-00:53:13
Stathis searches by himself in a farmhouse and finds Sifis sleeping in the barn. The young boy seems to be bothered by the light. At the same time, Stathis covers his face with his hands, as if he couldn’t tolerate what he sees.
Participants: STATHIS - SIFIS
STATHIS ASKS FOR BRANDY IN ANOTHER COFFEEHOUSE
00:52:49-00:53:13
Stathis walks in a second coffeehouse and asks for brandy.
Participants: STHATHIS – THE COFFEEHOUSEKEEPER – A COFFEEHOUSE PATRON
AGGELA WORRIES
00:53:42-00:54:01
Angela, in the other coffeehouse, has started to worry about Stathis. A villager tells her that the doctor is drinking at the other coffeehouse and proposes to take her there.
Participants: AGGELA - SOME VILLAGERS
STATHIS CONFESSES
00:54:02-00:58:04
AGgela finds Stathis in poor shape, bent over a bottle. She asks him whether he asked for the search to stop. After telling her that he loves her, he discloses that the leper boy chased by the rangers in 1928 was no other than himself. Moreover, he tells her that he found Sifis in a barn in the outskirts of the village. He has to take him to Athens secretly. He wants them both to leave him alone. The girl tells him that she won’t let him do this and Stathis bursts into tears.
Participants: AGGELA - STATHIS
AGGELA FINDS SIFIS
00:58:05-00:59:42
Aggela goes to the barn. When Sifis sees her, he falls in her arms in tears. He explains that he escaped to attend the concert and shows the marks on his hands. He believes that Virgin Mary punished him and he wonders how he will be able to play the piano. The woman consoles him and helps him to escape.
Participants: AGGELA - SIFIS - A PASSERBY
ΤHE SPINALONGA INMATES ARE HAVING FUN
00:59:43-01:00:05
At the coffehouse, the Spinalonga inmates are having fun. Some dance Cretan dances, others make toasts.
Participants: THE PATIENTS
SPINALOGKA CLOSES DOWN
01:00:06-01:01:22
The doctor arrives by boat to the Spinalogka dock. The old teacher is waiting for him and announces the good news: Spinalogka is to close down. On the previous evening, before Aggela and Stathis arrived, he opened the Ministry’s letter. Everyone celebrates the good news.
Participants: THE TEACHER - STATHIS
ΑGGELA AND STATHIS WALK BY THE SEA
01:01:23-01:02:21
Aggela comes towards them. Stathis holds her hand and together they walk by the rocks.
Participants: AGGELA - STATHIS - THE TEACHER
THE TALK BETWEEN THE TEACHER AND THE DOCTOR
00:06:15-00:09:44
The doctor is in his room and undresses, while listening to the feast of the lepers. The teacher, Manolis, looks at them from the window. The lepers continue to have fun. The doctor, who feels tired after six months at Spinalonga, talk with the teacher about whether their work will ever bear fruit. The teacher attempts to support the doctor, who says that he is tired of being the patients’ ranger. Spinalogka’s doctor has to be a bit of everything. They go to the taverna.
Participants: THE TEACHER - THE DOCTOR - THE PATIENT
ANESTIS’S ATTACK TO THE DOCTOR
00:09:45-00:11:33
The teacher and the doctor interrupt the feast and enter the taverna. The patients react, while Anestis, under the influence of morphine, attacks the doctor with his crutch and falls. The doctor realizes that the old man is on drugs and wonders who gave them to Anestis. The party is over.
Participants: THE TEACHER - ANESTIS - THE DOCTOR - THE PATIENTS
ARRIVAL
00:11:34-00:12:56
On the following day, the new doctor, Aggela Dariva appears on a boat The teacher and the doctor go to the harbor and talk. The teacher reassures the doctor that with the arrival of the new doctor things will be easier, but the doctor insists that he is soon to leave the island. Some of the patients welcome the newcomer, believing that she is a journalist. All seem surprised when they learn who she is.
Participants: THE PATIENTS – THE BOATMAN- DOCTOR AGGELA DARIVA - ANESTIS - THE TEACHER - THE DOCTOR
THE DOCTOR’S SURPRISE
00:12:57-00:13:24
The teacher with the doctor, as they await the arrival of the replacement doctor, continue to discuss the role of hard work and of meeting someone’s goals. The doctor insists that he will leave as soon as his replacement will arrive. Surprised, he realizes that she is a young and beautiful woman.
Participants: ANESTIS - THE TEACHER - THE DOCTOR - THE PATIENTS - AGGELA
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