Summaries

To build bridges with his estranged son, a Greek shipping magnate enlists the help of his second wife, Phaedra. But, in rain-soaked Paris, their passionate affair threatens to destroy his empire. Will the modern temptress accept her fate?

The powerful Greek ship-owner and constructor Thanos proposes to marry Phaedra during the baptism of a ship with her name. Phaedra, who is the daughter of Thanos' greatest competitor, is a bored woman. Thanos gives an expensive ring to Phaedra and soon she learns that his estranged son from his first marriage, Alexis, has left the London School of Economics (L.S.E.) in London to dedicate himself to painting. Thanos asks Phaedra to travel to London to bring Alexis to meet him in Greece. When Phaedra meets Alexis, she falls in love with her step-son and seduces him. Their doomed love affair leads the family to a tragedy.—Claudio Carvalho, Rio de Janeiro, Brazil

More than anything in the world, the powerful Greek shipping magnate, Thanos Kyrilis, yearns to reconcile with his estranged art student son, Alexis, who is living in London. To help him build bridges between them, the pained father enlists the help of his passionate second wife, Phaedra, to talk the distant twenty-four-year-old son into spending his summer vacation with them at the family's villa in the sun-kissed island of Hydra. However, against the backdrop of a rain-soaked Paris, a torrid love affair beyond reason will bloom, threatening to burn the oblivious tycoon's international maritime transport empire to the ground. Now, tormented Phaedra finds herself unable to suppress her forbidden and guilty feelings for her young stepson. Will the modern temptress share the same fate as Hippolytus' stepmother in Euripides' Ancient Greek tragedy?—Nick Riganas

A retelling of the Greek myth of Phaedra. In modern Greece, Alexis' father, an extremely wealthy shipping magnate, marries the younger, fiery Phaedra. When Alexis meets his step-mother, sparks fly and the two begin a love affair. What will the Fates bring this family? Alexis' roadster and the music of Bach figure in the conclusion.—<[email protected]>

Details

Keywords
  • stepmother stepson relationship
  • stepmother stepson sex
  • forbidden love
  • sexual melodrama
  • greek literature on screen
Genres
  • Drama
Release date May 24, 1962
Motion Picture Rating (MPA) Not Rated
Countries of origin United States France Greece
Language English Greek
Filming locations Paris, France
Production companies Melina Film Jorilie Joele

Box office

Tech specs

Runtime 1h 55m
Color Black and White
Sound mix Mono
Aspect ratio 1.66 : 1

Synopsis

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