Loxandra (1980)

Original title: Λωξάντρα

Loxandra is a Greek mother and wife living the ordinary life of a well to-do Greek family in Constantinoupolis of the late 1800s-early 1900s, a world gone forever. Historical events intrude in the background -revolutions, palace coups, massacres, and the great upheavals of WW1 in which Greeks saw their wildest hopes fulfilled, then dashed: for a brief time Constantinoupolis itself was regained, then lost along with all Asia Minor. Through troubles great and small, Loxandra's simple optimism, belief in her Virgin Mary, and love of life carries her family past every difficulty - be it a sumptuous dinner for Easter or secretly giving away her savings to help persecuted Armenians. A representation of a time and place where all neighbors were friends, where they could cook in each other's kitchens or take shelter in each other's cellars.