Plot Details: This opinion reveals major details about the movie's plot.

This is another entry into Epinions member rkingfish's databasediveW/O in which the objective is to mine the depths for first time reviews.

As one of the most popular films of 1960's Never On Sunday made a big splash at the 1960 Cannes Film Festival, when lead actress Melina Mercouri won the best actress award. This lighthearted romantic comedy also features the memorable theme song played on the traditional Greek instrument, the bouzouki, which won an Academy Award.

Despite a rather shallow plot, this lively film enchanted audiences and sparked the public's interest in modern Greece. Writer/Director Jules Dassin stars as Homer, (aptly named) an Intellectual American Tourist, who becomes infatuated with Ilya, (Melina Mercouri) a spirited Greek prostitute, whom he believes symbolizes both Greece's classic purity and decadence. While Ilya hand picks her clientele and hosts her weekly festive Sunday open house, Homer devises a plan to teach her about Plato, Aristotle, Socrates, and classic Greek culture, in hopes of turning her into a respectable woman.

Although this movie is filmed in black and white, it would be erroneous to say that it lacks color, since it is brimming over with music, dancing, and colorful characters. The film also features a split soundtrack, half in English and half in Greek with English subtitles.

A sort of Greek adaptation of Pygmalion, the plot may be paper thin, but the film's lighthearted charm and Mercouri's delightful performance as the incorrigible Ilya, makes up for the film's lack of depth. In this quirky comedy, Dassin, an American expatriate, takes a shot at America's puritanical values by depicting a prostitute as such a charming, care-free, happy-go-lucky, sympathetic character.

Mercouri's animated performance, not only made her an international star, but catapulted her into a film career, and eventually into the political arena. While Dassin's performance is necessarily stuffy and understated, the two manage to create a sort of curious chemistry together, that carried over into their real life marriage.

Despite the fact that the language track can be distracting at times, since Mercouri's English is extremely broken and choppy, and the Greek sub-titles don't translated very well into English, this engaging, romantic comedy has continued to entertain audiences for decades. At a brief 97 minutes, it's well worth the investment of time, for Mercouri's delightful performance, alone.





Recommended: Yes

Viewing Format: VHS
Video Occasion: Good for a Rainy Day
Suitability For Children: Suitable for Children Age 13 and Older