An English family relocates to sunny Greece in the months before WWII.

The first part of an incomplete trilogy telling the story of the greek people. The film begins in 1919, with Greek immigrants from Odessa arriving near Thessaloniki. Led by the charismatic Spyros, they establish a new settlement in the delta of a river. The youngest of the settlers are Spyros' son Alexis and an orphan from Odessa, Eleni. A strong, almost incestuous affection develops between the teenagers, resulting in twins who are given to a foster family. Also standing in the way of love is Spyros, determined to take his foster daughter as his wife. The lovers then decide to flee the village, persecuted by their father, leading a life of exile. As Alexis joins a group of musicians planning to go to the United States, Eleni regains custody of the twins. Angelopoulos, as in previous films, looks at the sacrifice of civilians confronted by the workers' demonstrations of 1935, the rule of Metaxas' fascist junta and forced emigration to America, and finally the civil war of 1944-1949.

When a fisherman leaves to fight with the Greek army during World War II, his fiancée falls in love with the local Italian commander.

A reporter notices an old man in a border town who may be an important Greek politician who disappeared mysteriously years ago.

Mystery writer Sian Anderson leaves her boyfriend John for three weeks of intense writing in the isolated Greek town of Monemvassia. Upon her arrival in the ancient, deserted, walled-in fortress, she is met by Elias Appleby, the round eccentric landlord who guides her through mysterious underground passageways to the house where she will work. He warns her to stay inside at night because of the killer winds that arrive after dark.

Alexander, a tribal warlord and former political prisoner, kidnaps British tourists, holding them for ransom until Britain and the Greek puppet government in Athens meet his demand for amnesty for his band of freedom fighters.