What It's About:

Athenian writer Pavlos (Horn) isn’t progressing with his book, so he heads to the remote island of Hydra for a change of pace. He rooms there in the home of a once-rich widow (Zafiriou) and her beautiful, melancholy daughter Marina (Lambeti). The town’s bucolic veneer starts to crack when neighbors scorn the mother for loose morals, and local bachelors taunt Marina for spurning their advances. Pavlos, however, wins her affections, but their romance is threatened by the jealous young men of the island. When their practical joke on Pavlos goes awry, horrific consequences ensue for the whole community.

Why I Love It:

Beautifully shot with a single camera, this haunting Golden Globe-winning tragedy from Cacoyannis helped usher in the golden age of Greek cinema. Lambeti, whose film career would be short-lived, delivers a heartrending performance as the fragile, ethereal Marina. But it’s the film’s stark, incisive indictment of the treatment of women within a cloistered island that is most stirring. As poignant now as when released, “Girl” presents the locale’s extraordinary naturalistic beauty in counterpoint to the cruelty of its human residents. Sadly forgotten today, this enthralling drama will stay with you long after the picture fades to black.