out of his stupor and self-pity, and seemingly re-energizes him in his love for a 19th-century Greek poet, Dionysios Solomos, whose unfinished poem he longs to complete. The old man and the boy are connected by fear. The former over what lies ahead for him, and whether his life has had any impact; the latter over the perilous return trip to Albania on a path over the mountains lined with land mines, as well as traffickers. Alexandros pays a visit to his housekeeper, Ourania. She is manifestly smitten with him, but is in the middle of a wedding party and dances between her son and his bride. The scene plays on until Alexandros interrupts. He leaves the dog with her, and then the dance and music, which had stopped, resume as if nothing had halted them. The boy goes to the ruins of a hospital, mourning another young boy, Selim, via a candlelight vigil, with dozens of other youths. The pair take a bus trip and encounter all sorts of people, from a tired political protester to an arguing couple to a classical music trio. They also look out the window as a trio of people on bicycles pedal by them, oddly dressed in bright yellow raincoats. The boy departs in the middle of the night, stowing aboard a huge, brightly lit ship whose destination is unknown. Alexandros enters his old home. He looks about, exits out the back door, and into the sunny past where Anna and other friends are singing. They stop, ask him to join them, then they all dance, and soon, there is only the poet and his wife in motion. Then, she slowly pulls away, and he claims his hearing is gone. He also cannot see her, it seems. He calls out and asks how long tomorrow will be, after he had told her he refuses to go into the hospital as planned. She tells him tomorrow will last eternity and a day. Cast Bruno Ganz as Alexandre Isabelle Renauld as Anna Fabrizio Bentivoglio as the poet Achileas Skevis as the child Alexandra Ladikou as Anna's mother Despina Bebedelli as Alexandre's mother Helene (Eleni) Gerasimidou as Urania Iris Chatziantoniou as Alexandre's daughter Nikos Kouros as Anna's uncle Alekos Oudinotis as Anna's father Nikos Kolovos as the doctor Soundtrack The score by Eleni Karaindrou was released on the ECM New Series label in 1998. Accolades See