Director: Jules Dassin
Year Released: 1960
Rating: 2.5
Bookish American (Dassin) tries to clean up a Greek hooker-with-a-heart-of-Euripides (Melina Mercouri) by attempting to convince her that a life devoted to the arts and learning beats fornicating with a bunch of sailors and barflys: it's the classic hedonism versus intellectualism debate. Trouble is, it's treated as an incredibly black and white issue - Mercouri's so on fire and flirtatious (sex addiction, maybe?) that Dassin's books and operas bore her to tears, and his persuasion never, for a second, takes hold of her. It's cute as a cinematic love letter from a filmmaker to the love of his life (though the two, according to sources, were married to other people at the time), but a little more gray area and a little less yelping and glass breaking would have been nice. Dassin leaves Greece disappointed by his inability to sway her; she stays as ravenous as ever (the film sides with her). If you don't mind me, I'll be huddled in a corner somewhere with my green tea and Mishima novels, thanks....
