MAY


View at Tainiothiki tis Ellados
  • Autre(s) titre(s): MAY
    ΜΑΤΩΜΕΝΟΣ ΜΑΗΣ ΤΟΥ '36
  • Genre: Feature Film
  • Année: 1976
  • Description: 1. TITLES OPENING TITLES)
    10. ESCALATION OF VIOLENT CLASHES IN THE STREETS – STREETS ARE FILLED WITH RAGING FIRES AND CASUALTIES We are at the spinning mills, with very few strike-breakers and in the presence of the police. Outside the factory, the strikers denounce the methods of the management and the police. Violent clashes take place. There's the sound of breaking glass. Outside the closed factories, attempts to intimidate the workers meet with no success. Other working classes like machinists, lumpers etc. come out in support of the tobacco workers. The strike escalates. Police shoot at the marching strikers from nearby rooftops. There are clashes and gunfire in the city streets. Workers and the police engage in street fighting. The army sides with the strikers and confronts the police. Armed police are hard at the strikers' heels. The strikers shout at the top of their lungs at the law enforcement units: "Murderers!", "Killers!". The sound from the church bells ringing mixes with the police gunfire. The police think nothing of chasing strikers even inside the church. The surrounding streets look like a battlefield: armed police against unarmed demonstrators. In many instances, it is a hand-to-hand fight. There are fires all over the streets. The strikers regroup amid continual gunfire. There are victims. A woman identifies her dead husband. The dead striker is placed on a makeshift stretcher. More and more people converge on the scene. The procession of the dead striker becomes increasingly massive. Workers, both men and women, carrying red flags chant: "You are the victims, our brothers". Facing them menacingly are the barrels of police guns. The police shoot to kill. The death toll rises. A mother dressed in black is wailing in mourning over the body of her dead son. Further down, a boy in knee-length trousers is covered in blood. Fuming with rage, the strikers struggle to regroup. They intercept a Security car and set it ablaze. The security officers run away amid boos and catcalls from the crowd. In contrast, the soldiers going past on horseback are received approvingly by the strikers: "Hip hurrah! Our brothers the soldiers!". (THESSALONIKI - A TEXTILE FACTORY – STREETS RUNNING PAST THE FACTORIES – ALLEYS AND STREETS IN THESSALONIKI – SQUARES IN THESSALONIKI – A CHURCH, 5/1936)
    11. THE STRIKE HAS STARTED TO PAY DIVIDENDS: LAW ENFORCEMENT BY THE POLICE IS LIFTED AND THE GENERAL'S STAFF HAVE BEEN TRYING TO APPEASE THE STRIKERS The announcement that the police have been denied the right to enforce the law and that the army has been assigned this task is greeted with much applause by the strikers. The strike not only continues unabated, but more and more working classes join in. Even shopkeepers will refrain from doing any business until the workers' demands are met. Everywhere on nearby walls makeshift signs serve to remind passers-by of the dead: "HERE …. was killed". Loudspeakers blare out the speech of a left-wing MP who denounces the tactics of the state that backs up tobacco merchants, who make a fortune at the expense of tobacco workers, plagued by starvation and disease. Outside Thessaloniki Garrison Headquarters, there is a crowd of demonstrators. A spokesman for the General steps out onto the balcony in an effort to appease them. The placard carried by the crowd read: “NATIONWIDE FUNERAL”, “NO MORE BLOOD”. (STREETS IN THESSALONIKI – OUTSIDE THESSALONIKI GARRISON, 5/1963)
    12. THE TWO WARRING CONFEDERATIONS JOIN FORCES IN PURSUING THE SAME GOAL, THE ARMY AND THE PEOPLE MAKE COMMON CAUSE AND THE NATION-WIDE MOURNING OVER THE BURIAL OF THE STRIKE VICTIMS IS TURNED INTO PUBLIC OUTCRY FOR METAXAS TO STAND DOWN The evening service on the Venerable Wood of the Cross on Good Friday. The working classes attend the service to honor their dead. There are feverish discussions among the congregation that is more akin to a crowd of demonstrators. There is a joint statement by the two warring Confederations issuing an appeal to the workers for unity in pursuing the common cause and the vindication of their demands. “See you all at the Unitive Conference”. Moreover, the news that the government has granted permission for a nationwide funeral of the victims the following day has turned the religious service into a proper demonstration: the mourning over Jesus’ death on the cross mixes the revolutionary chanting “You are victims, our brothers”. Just then a luxury German car flying small flags and bearing the swastika drives through the procession-demonstration, and tempers in the crowd flare. They start threateningly for the car shouting: “Down with fascism! Get out of our country!” Moving as one, the funeral procession is joined by a line of demonstrators in lorries and carrying flags, dropping flowers on the way at the spots where strikers were killed. A politician opposed to the strike tries to convince the Major that withdrawing the police forces was a sure sign for criminals to move in. But the Major proved unyielding and did not seem to worry. The people exclaim at the killing sites: “Damn the murderers!”, “Revenge!”. The spokesman for the Garrison Commander sides up with the crowd, citing the first article of the Constitution: “Power in all its manifestations derives from the people. The army is part of the people, and as such it shares your grief for the victims, expressing its sorrow alongside yours”. (STREETS IN THESSALONIKI, 5/1963)
    13. THE GOVERNMENT YIELDS TO THE STRIKERS’ PRESSURE: THE TOBACCO INDUSTRIALISTS ARE INFORMED OF THE DECISION TO ENTER INTO PROMPT AGREEMENT WITH THE LABOR UNIONS, WHILE THE FIRST UNHAMPERED LEFT-WING POLITICAL RALLY TAKES PLACE IN THE STREETS A government spokesman has convened a meeting of tobacco merchants and industrialists at his office. He announces that there has to be an agreement with the labour unions as soon as possible and calls upon them to give him an undertaking to this effect. In the meantime, he discloses that army reinforcements are expected from Larisa together with a squadron of warships, while changes in the Ministry of War are forthcoming. Throughout the meeting, demonstrators call out anti-fascist, pro-worker slogans and sing internationalist marches and songs. Brimming with class hatred, a group of organized supporters rip down in a rage the signs outside the offices of 3E (National Union of Greeks). Demonstrators are moving on, singing away the "Internationale", converging in groups on the site where the political speech is scheduled to be held. Within earshot of the bulk of demonstrators, some union officials are discussing the latest developments: "Under pressure in the light of the latest developments, the authorities and the management want to enter into negotiations with the strikers. The city is in our hands now. If they try to deceive us, they will bitterly regret it. It has been decided that there will be a nationwide strike in August". They mix with the crowd attending the political speech. A man's voice over the loudspeakers is attacking the monarch-fascist regime, plutocracy and associated state. "The working class have proved that they not only know how to put up a good fight, but they also know how to win the battle". The crowd responds with slogans "Power to the People!", "Death to fascism!", "Freedom for the people!". (A GOVERNMENT OFFICE – STREETS IN THESSALONIKI, 5/1963)
    14. END TITLES Titles with the names of the amateur actors that have a part in the film. Most of them are probably the workers themselves in black-and-white archival photographs from the demonstrations in May 1936.)
    2. THE PREPARATIONS AND ONSET OF THE WORKERS' STRIKE AT THE TOBACCO FACTORY A dirt road in a provincial town lined with houses. Narration off: "Following Kondylis' radical reforms and the reinstatement of Monarchy in the elections of 26-1-1936, no party has the controlling majority. Demertzis' caretaker government remains in power, while Ioannis Metaxas will be appointed Minister of the Military in March on King George II's recommendation. This is the time when Europe witnesses the rise of international fascism. Hitler captures Rinania and Mussolini invaded Ethiopia. On 13 April, Demertzis dies and Ioannis Metaxas is appointed head of the government. With the exception of Palaiko Front, the parties give him a vote of confidence and concede to his proposal that the Parliament should go into recess for five months. This paves the way for dictatorship. In Thessaloniki, 3E – "The National Union of the Greeks" is engaged in acts of terrorism in an effort to curb the expansion of the folk movement currently on the rise. At the end of April 1936, the strike in the tobacco industry breaks out, triggered by the callous exploitation of the tobacco workforce by merchants and companies. The film highlights the events and does not aspire to re-enact them". (This is followed by a panoramic movement of the camera). We can see the back of a factory. A lorry unloads tobacco. Male and female workers are loaded with tobacco. In another wing, workers talk worriedly about the scheming aimed at calling off the strike. A little further down, some men in a suit get off a luxury car. In an office, in absolute secrecy and taking extra safety precautions, some union members (in an atmosphere of semi-illegality) make preparations for the forthcoming strike. Extensive areas with tobacco spread across the floor. Male and female laborers are busy at work cleaning the leaves. Suddenly a worker stands up and shouts at the top of his voice: "Strike!". All the rest immediately join him. (THESSALONIKI – A TOBACCO FACTORY – AN OFFICE, 1936)
    3. MIDDLE-CLASS PEOPLE MEET AT THE MINISTRY TO DISCUSS WAYS OF SUPPRESSING THE STRIKE At the Ministry, a group of middle-class people in dark suits sail along the passages. They are the tobacco industrialists and their executives. Their faces register their concern as they are on their way to a meeting with a top-ranking government official. They all agree on taking measures for the immediate suppression of the strike. It is resolved that the Head of security should be notified immediately. (THESSALONIKI – THE MINISTRY – A PASSAGE – THE DIRECTOR'S OFFICE, 1936)
    4. MEETING OF THESSALONIKI TOBACCO WORKERS' UNION A meeting at the premises of "Thessaloniki Tobacco Workers' Union". Standing out on the balcony, a union member is addressing a crowd of workers. He refers to the abolition of the unbearable tax levied upon the workers and boils the sector's policy down to seven specific demands. The crowd roars their approval chanting: "Workers stick together!" (THESSALONIKI – FORECOURT OF THESSALONIKI TOBACCO WORKERS' UNION OFFICES, 1936)
    5. MAY 1, 1936 – THE FIRST CLASHES BETWEEN WORKERS AND THE MIDDLE CLASS Morning of May 1st, 1936. Out in the open-air, middle-class families are enjoying a walk in the countryside to the accompaniment of a hand-organ. Along a country road in the distance, a workers' demonstration holding banners comes into view. They get closer, chanting away "The workers have been set upon by sharp-clawed black crows". A short distance before the workers get to the middle-class excursionists, the former are attacked by armed horsemen. The demonstrators are violently dispersed. There is gunfire and the workers curse their attackers as they try to steer clear of them. After a while, the bourgeois families look as if they are regrouping around the open-air pavilion, trying to regain their composure and carry on with their romantic excursion. (THE COUNTRYSIDE – THESSALONIKI – OUTSIDE THE GENERAL CONFEDERATION OF GREEK LABOUR - OPERA, 1/5/1936)
    6. THE FIRST CLASHES BETWEEN WORKERS AND THE POLICE AND THE FIRST ARRESTS People's café. The patrons (poor people and workers) talk about the situation in Greece after Venizelos' death. Two police informers turn up and arrest one of the patrons. Something like a singsong is heard amidst whispers and hushed reactions. (PEOPLE'S CAFÉ –THE ENTRANCE TO THE OFFICES OF THE TOBACCO WORKERS' UNION – THE FORECOURT TO THE TOBACCO WORKERS' UNION – STREETS IN THESSALONIKI, 5/1936)
    7. METAXAS' ARRIVAL IN THESSALONIKI TRIGGERS VIOLENT CLASHES BETWEEN THE STRIKERS AND THE ARMY. THE POLITICAL MANIPULATIONS FOR CONTAINING THE CRISIS At the Thessaloniki railway station, a large banner greets "Ioannis Metaxas, the worthy leader". He was received by a cheering crowd waving flags. As Metaxas' train pulls up at the platform, a group of workers is demonstrating by the warehouse against the country's future dictator. A violent army intervention follows. (THESSALONIKI – THE RAILWAY STATION – A NEOCLASSICAL MANSION, 5/1936)
    8. THE RESOLUTION OF PROTEST AGAINST THE GOVERNMENT IS FOLLOWED BY DEMONSTRATIONS AND EVEN MORE VIOLENT CLASHES INVOLVING THE STRIKERS, THE ARMY AND THE POLICE IN THE CITY STREETS – THE STRIKE TURNS INTO AN UPRISING A rally and speeches at the Tobacco Workers' Association. A union member reads out announcements received by many working classes voicing their solidarity. The struggle goes on. The meeting concluded with a resolution of protest against the government and its policy. Thessaloniki, May 8, 1936. (THESSALONIKI – THE FORECOURT OF THE TOBACCO WORKERS' ASSOCIATION – ALLEYS - SQUARES, 8/5/1936)
    9. THE PUBLIC ANNOUNCEMENT OF THE ROYAL DECREE FOR THE MOBILIZATION OF THE WORKING CLASSES IS RECEIVED WITH OVERT DISSATISFACTION, WHILE THE STRIKE CONTINUES TO SPREAD We are at a central city square in the morning. There are groups of strikers rallying to the support of the "Unionists". The police are posting the Royal Decree for the mobilization of the working classes. There is widespread public discontent. The workers will comply only with their union resolutions. "Up with the strike!.". An armoured vehicle loaded with soldiers goes past the square. There is a round of applause from the strikers: "Our brothers, the soldiers!". In the surrounding streets, demonstrators can be heard singing the "Internationale". At the atrium of the Municipal Food Market, in front of the coach station for Thessaly, a group of police officers try to mobilize the patrons of the cafés nearby. Most of them refuse to comply. The coach with a handful of strike-breakers pulls out, but is quickly intercepted by a group of pickets. Clashes ensue. "Up with the strike!." (THESSALONIKI – SQUARE – ALLEYS – THE ATRIUM AT THE TOWN MARKET PLACE, 5/1936)
  • Mots-clés: ΑΠΕΡΓΙΑ ΚΑΠΝΕΡΓΑΤΕΣ ΘΕΣΣΑΛΟΝΙΚΗ ΜΕΤΑΞΑΣ ΣΥΝΔΙΚΑΛΙΣΜΟΣ ΕΡΓΑΤΗΣ ΣΥΜΠΛΟΚΕΣ ΧΩΡΟΦΥΛΑΚΗ ΔΙΑΔΗΛΩΣΗ ΕΡΓΑΤΙΚΗ ΤΑΞΗ ΛΑΟΣ ΣΥΝΘΗΜΑ / STRIKE THESSALONIKI METAXAS TRADE UNIONISM WORKER SCUFFLES CONSTABULARY DEMONSTRATION PROLETARIAT PEOPLE SLOGAN / ΑΠΕΡΓΙΑ ΚΑΠΝΕΡΓΑΤΕΣ ΘΕΣΣΑΛΟΝΙΚΗ ΜΕΤΑΞΑΣ ΣΥΝΔΙΚΑΛΙΣΜΟΣ ΕΡΓΑΤΗΣ ΣΥΜΠΛΟΚΕΣ ΧΩΡΟΦΥΛΑΚΗ ΔΙΑΔΗΛΩΣΗ ΕΡΓΑΤΙΚΗ ΤΑΞΗ ΛΑΟΣ ΣΥΝΘΗΜΑ / STRIKE THESSALONIKI METAXAS TRADE UNIONISM WORKER SCUFFLES CONSTABULARY DEMONSTRATION PROLETARIAT PEOPLE SLOGAN
  • Fournisseur: Tainiothiki tis Ellados
  • Société de production: SYNERGATIKI LTD
  • Director: PSARRAS TASOS
  • Recueil: Ψηφιοποιημένες ελληνικές ταινίες μυθοπλασίας

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