Eleni (film)
Encyclopedia
Eleni is the 1985 film adaptation of the memoir Eleni by Greek-American journalist Nicholas Gage
. Directed by Peter Yates
, the film stars John Malkovich
, Kate Nelligan
, Linda Hunt
and Glenne Headly
.
format with Gage, now living in the United States
, returning to his native Greece
to solve the mystery of his mother's death when he was a child. The film looks back to the effect of the 1940s Greek Civil War
on the remote Greek village of his upbringing, and he investigates what happened to his mother after Communist guerrillas invade the village. The main difference between the film and book was that the film focused more on the adult Gage and his investigation, while the book had more focus on Gage's impoverished small-town childhood.
Nicholas Gage
Nicholas Gage is a Greek American author and investigative journalist. Today he and his wife, Joan, live in North Grafton, Massachusetts...
. Directed by Peter Yates
Peter Yates
Peter James Yates was an English director and producer. He was born in Aldershot, Hampshire.The son of an army officer, he attended Charterhouse School as a boy, graduated from the Royal Academy of Dramatic Art and worked for some years as an actor, director and stage manager...
, the film stars John Malkovich
John Malkovich
John Gavin Malkovich is an American actor, producer, director and fashion designer with his label Technobohemian. Over the last 25 years of his career, Malkovich has appeared in more than 70 motion pictures. For his roles in Places in the Heart and In the Line of Fire, he received Academy Award...
, Kate Nelligan
Kate Nelligan
Patricia Colleen "Kate" Nelligan is a Canadian BAFTA award winning stage, film and television actress.-Early life:Nelligan, the fourth of six children, was born in London, Ontario, the daughter of Josephine Alice , a schoolteacher, and Patrick Joseph Nelligan, a factory repairman and municipal...
, Linda Hunt
Linda Hunt
Linda Hunt is an American film, stage and television actress. After making her film debut playing Mrs. Oxheart in Popeye , Hunt portrayed Billy Kwan, her breakthrough performance in The Year of Living Dangerously...
and Glenne Headly
Glenne Headly
Glenne Aimee Headly is an American actress of film, stage and television.-Early life:Glenne Headly was born in New London, Connecticut and her first years were spent living under the care of her mother in San Francisco and her maternal grandmother in Pennsylvania...
.
Synopsis
As with the book, the film is told in a flashbackFlashback (narrative)
Flashback is an interjected scene that takes the narrative back in time from the current point the story has reached. Flashbacks are often used to recount events that happened before the story’s primary sequence of events or to fill in crucial backstory...
format with Gage, now living in the United States
United States
The United States of America is a federal constitutional republic comprising fifty states and a federal district...
, returning to his native Greece
Greece
Greece , officially the Hellenic Republic , and historically Hellas or the Republic of Greece in English, is a country in southeastern Europe....
to solve the mystery of his mother's death when he was a child. The film looks back to the effect of the 1940s Greek Civil War
Greek Civil War
The Greek Civil War was fought from 1946 to 1949 between the Greek governmental army, backed by the United Kingdom and United States, and the Democratic Army of Greece , the military branch of the Greek Communist Party , backed by Bulgaria, Yugoslavia and Albania...
on the remote Greek village of his upbringing, and he investigates what happened to his mother after Communist guerrillas invade the village. The main difference between the film and book was that the film focused more on the adult Gage and his investigation, while the book had more focus on Gage's impoverished small-town childhood.