I saw Never on Sunday (Jules Dassin, 1960) again for the first time since I saw it thrice* on first release. *Explicable by the ‘identity theme’ (Norman Holland, 1975) to which I was responding. In other words (Neil Young’s): ‘I fell in love with the actress/She was playing a part that I could understand’. It’s about a prostitute who has a blissfully happy life with all her Piraeus clients until an American arrives to spoil everything (played by the writer/director, who was also married to Melina Mercouri from 1966 until her death in 1994). The same day I was attempting to transcribe the words of a folksong about a girl who dies of a venereal disease – one of the numerous versions of the ‘ceremonial funeral’ topos. No mention of that in Dassin’s film.
Never on Sunday (Jules Dassin, 1960)
Garry Gillard | New: 5 March, 2017 | Now: 6 March, 2017