A Greek rendering of Carmen originally intended as a play, but became a movie instead. Cacoyiannis was a veteran of the London stage as well as the Greek, and he made many fine movies (most known only to Greeks).

This resembles a Bollywood musical in its structure, but is considerably more serious. Stella decision not to marry a man she loves only so much is a defense of her freedom, but will have far-reaching consequences. Unlike Carmen, she is portrayed as a sympathetic character in a harsh system (redeemed by buoyant Bouzouki music). This is said to be an allegory of Greek politics at the time.

This was Melina Mercouri's big breakthrough - she won a special unique award at Cannes, and met her future director/husband Jules Dassin (Never on Sunday) there. I don't like the big-name movies she made with him as much as her early stuff, which has more purity. Maybe she should have followed Stella's example. At least, she did become Minister of Culture.