I think this movie has been underrated, for some disappointing reasons. Very few people criticize Kate Nelligan's fine performance; but they overlook the performances of Linda Hunt and the actor who played the local Communist leader who was ultimately spared by Nicholas Gage (I don't know his name, but I thought the casting was quite deft). For the most part, though, it was John Malkovich's performance that has been so grossly misunderstood. People hadn't seen enough of his work in 1985 when the movie came out. But now, after "Places in the Heart," "The Killing Fields," and numerous other films, we should be able to appreciate what he can do with a part.
Another distressing aspect of the critical comments is the fact that the political left prefers to focus on political background as the major point in their evaluation. To toss out any political reference to the actual situation in Greece in the late 1940's is nothing more than turning the very valid allegations of Communist mischief in that time into an argument for their side--something that the radical left has always been able to do quite adroitly for some time.
In the early '80's many of those kidnapped children had grown up and returned to Greece--as agents provocateurs. They were so successful that their efforts had a potent effect on Greek politics for years. It is a fact that in that time the Soviets shot down a Korean airliner that had drifted off course over the Sea of Japan. Everyone aboard was killed. And the Premier of Greece, with no evidence to support his conclusion whatsoever, said publicly that the plane was probably on a spy mission for the CIA. He, of course, was playing to the powerful leftist political sentiment in his own country at the time. A page of history is truly worth a volume of logic sometimes.
Another distressing aspect of the critical comments is the fact that the political left prefers to focus on political background as the major point in their evaluation. To toss out any political reference to the actual situation in Greece in the late 1940's is nothing more than turning the very valid allegations of Communist mischief in that time into an argument for their side--something that the radical left has always been able to do quite adroitly for some time.
In the early '80's many of those kidnapped children had grown up and returned to Greece--as agents provocateurs. They were so successful that their efforts had a potent effect on Greek politics for years. It is a fact that in that time the Soviets shot down a Korean airliner that had drifted off course over the Sea of Japan. Everyone aboard was killed. And the Premier of Greece, with no evidence to support his conclusion whatsoever, said publicly that the plane was probably on a spy mission for the CIA. He, of course, was playing to the powerful leftist political sentiment in his own country at the time. A page of history is truly worth a volume of logic sometimes.