One Day in August

The Virgin Mary is the deus ex machina in the four storylines of this ambitious Greek art film. August 15 is the day of the Dormition of the Virgin in the Orthodox calendar, but for Athenians it is little more than an excuse to leave the city for the countryside. Four social classes are represented -the nouveau riche, the middle class, the working class and the sizeable "scrounging class" of Athens- and the director does an excellent job of delving into the characters. The young hitchhiker, the car mechanic, the lady on the highway who gets run over and the young girl at the end are the manifestations of the Virgin who change the course of the four plot lines. Some inexplicable endings, however, left me unfulfilled and disappointed. Some might say that's what the director intended, but I say hogwash. This great movie seems incomplete.