Eleni
BB.5
(out of 5)
A Greek freedom fighter who was killed for resisting the communists during the Civil war of the fifties is the subject of this unevenly directed melodrama. Thirty years later, her son Nicholas Gage (whose autobiographical book is the basis of the screenplay) wishes to go back to Greece to discover the identity of her killer. Told in flashback, with authentic depictions of Greek culture and an excellent performance by Kate Nelligan as the title character, the film unfortunately doesn’t do as well as it should considering it has a script by Steve Tesich and is directed by Peter Yates. The drama unfolds without any notable craft, and there is no subtlety in any of the character development. Only those with knowledge of the story or its historical basis are likely to get something out of it.
CBS Entertainment Production, Eleni Productions
USA, 1985
Directed by Peter Yates
Screenplay by Steve Tesich, based on the book by Nicholas Gage
Cinematography by Billy Williams
Produced by Nicholas Gage, Mark Pick, Nick Vanoff
Music by Bruce Smeaton
Production Design by Roy Walker
Costume Design by Tom Rand
Film Editing by Ray Lovejoy
Cast Tags: Aaron Schwartz, Adrienne Pocock, Alison King, Andrea Laskari, Anhoula Vraka, Anthony Stamboulieh, Arlene Mazerolle, Athena Voyatzis, Avril Clark, Christiana Fragou, Claudia Gough, Dimitra Arliss, Georgia Clarke, Glenne Headly, John Eastham, John Malkovich, Jon Rumney, Kate Nelligan, Keram Malicki-Sánchez, Leon Lissek, Linda Hunt, Lisa Jakub, Lisa Rose, Maria Calvente, Michael Chesden, Michael Zelniker, Miguel Pedregosa, Noam Almaz, Oliver Cotton, Patricia Carroll Brown, Peter Woodthorpe, Ronald Pickup, Rosalie Crutchley, Stefan Gryff, Steve Plytas, Theresa Tova, Vic Tablian
