Stella (in-person only)

Melina Mercouri, Giorgos Foundas

Melina Mercouri blazes on the screen as a defiant singer in Cacoyannis’ ‘neo-realist’ melodrama, a reworking of Carmen set in post-war Athens.

Stella works at the Paradise taverna where a notice advertises ‘Songs of Love, Life and Death’ – a promise of what lies ahead. She lives by her own rules, a fearless, sexual force of nature, flirting with customers and insisting that men ‘take me as I am’. But even when her head is turned by footballer Miltos (Foundas), Stella refuses to play by the rules.

A classic of Greek cinema, Cacoyannis’ film is hugely confident, with moments of brilliance in both camerawork and editing. It thrums to the sound of the bouzouki and the glorious songs of Manos Hatzidakis, but it’s Mercouri you remember most in a performance so wholly realised the screen appears barely able to contain it.

Screening from an original UK release 35mm print.