The 4th Greek International Film Festival Tour: “Murderess”

Robert K. Stephen
One of the very special films showing at the upcoming 4th Greek International Film Festival Tour (Canada) (GIFFT) showing in 11 Canadian cities 1-31October2024, “Fonissa”, had the highest box office sales in Greece for 2023.
It is based on an Alexandros Papadiamantis novel of the same name published in 1912.
Set in a small village in rural mountainous Greece circa 1900’s it has been filmed in greyish hues and at times it seems to be filmed in black and white and is accompanied by haunting choral style music. It is brutal and cold edged gloominess beautifully captured quite possibly like no other Greek movie. This is exceptional and progressive filmmaking which need not be prefaced with “Greek”.
With an anglicized title of “Murderess” the murderess is an older woman Hadoula (Karyofyllia Karabeti) the village midwife and provider of basic health services. A string of deaths of female babies and young female infants sweeps the village.
Village life is patriarchal. The film opens with children both male and female dancing in a ring singing, “I wish I had a dozen little boys and not a single girl. The naughty little girls on a prickly pear”. The song is heard repeatedly throughout the film.
Hadoula’s daughter Delharo (Penelope Tsilika) gives birth to a girl and her husband on being informed of such smashes a plate on the floor in anger and storms off. In the village females are tolerated but multiple female births are perceived as a curse. According to village custom, and throughout Greece at the time, “marrying off” a female required the provision of a dowry by the bride’s family. Female children are a financial liability.
The birth of girls is perceived with displeasure by many villagers and Hadoula smothers and drowns her way into being seen as a suspect in the death of many children all girls. Look carefully at some of her interactions with fathers “cursed” by too many daughters. It is almost as if a certain nod, eye movement or a sly word here and there gives Hadoula a license to kill. Hadoula recognizes that she has the hands to accomplish what many villagers will not do themselves.
Hadoula had an abusive mother. Eventually Hadoula marries with a pivotal scene being families negotiating a dowry treating the young Hadoula like a piece of livestock. Women are not treated well by men in the village and there are not that many men remaining in the village as most have left to work abroad.  
The village priest is blind both physically and morally as one is left with the impression, he is a misogynist and even if he had sight it would not be critically applied!
Some serial killers have specific missions and for Hadoula murdering girls saves them from enduring societal “torture”. “It is girls that come into life to be tortured and to torture us” she says. Hadoula believes her murderous deeds were not done out of free will but with the sanction of God. Hadoula is a serial killer.
Gendarmes arrive at the village investigating the string of children’s deaths and certain “informers” point the finger to Hadoula and she flees up into the mountains. What spectacular scenery shot in an otherworldly fashion.
She returns briefly to her home (and her newly born granddaughter) and you may be dreading she just may do it. And when it happens you just might shriek, “Oh no!”. Hadoula is a killer but her last deed is beyond demonic. The village is in pursuit of Hadoula and like the widow in “Zorba the Greek” should they catch her she would be stoned to death. She escapes back up the mountain and encounters the spirit of her dead mother who has been dogging and chastising her throughout the film. It is clear at the film’s conclusion Hadoula has had a long fall from village tolerance.
As the final credits role there is text describing the connection between infanticide and dowries worldwide. It was not until 1983 that dowries were abolished in Greece.  
Hadoula is a murderess but it was village patriarchy and the dowry that were her accomplices. At the core is the economics of dowries. To what degree were the villagers accomplices?
A powerful film which is dark and brooding through its topic, cinematography and soundtrack. This Greek box office smash will be proudly screened at GIFFT. If you have difficulty sleeping after watching “Fonissa” don’t blame me. The most horrific film I have seen in some time.
Directed by Eva Nathena.
For showing details for this film and others in the GIFFT programme go to https://gifft.ca

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