Quiet Days of August (Isyhes meres tou Avgoustou) (NR)

synopsis

Against the background of Athens in August, deserted by its four million inhabitants and the havoc they create, Pantelis Voulgaris tenderly weaves three different stories about the lonely people who remain in a city now devoid of noise, pollution, traffic jams. An elderly woman who lives alone with memories of the man she loved during the war, strikes up a friendship with a young neighbour and the relationship culminates in both betrayal and fulfillment. A retired seaman, forever dreaming of the exotic life he used to lead, lives with his wife in an empty relationship. One evening he comes to the rescue of a middle-aged woman who faints in the subway after the death of her husband that same day. A bank employee who, every afternoon at four gets an erotic phone call from an unknown woman becomes obsessed with identifying her, but when he finally does, the excitement of the relationship dissipates. In August Athens recaptures some of its old charm and those who have chosen to stay behind despite the sizzling temperatures, seem linked by a common bond. Somewhere in between the heat, the memories, the desires and their deeper loneliness, they search for company, for love, for communication. No one knows how a chance encounter can turn out. What matters most of all is the need for human contact... no matter what the cost....