In 1922, with the Greco-Turkish War and the Russia Civil War, the women from these countries find husband in the United States through correspondence with immigrants.The bride Eleni (Foteini Kontoudaki) returns from the United States to Samothrace, Greece, since she has not adapted to the life in America. Her sister Niki Douka (Victoria Haralabidou) is assigned as her replacement and travels aboard the SS King Alexander to New York to marry the Greek immigrant Prodromos (Giorgos Makris) in Chicago. Nikki is a hard worker and works sewing along the trip for the passengers and crew. She becomes a leader of the brides and discovers the scheme of the crook Karabulat (Steven Berkoff) from Georgia with the Russian brides. She also falls in love with the American photographer Norman Harris (Damian Lewis) from Detroit. But Nikki is committed with Prodromos and she knows the consequence with her family in Samothrace if she runs away with Norman."Nyfes" is a beautiful and melancholic romance about the mail order brides from the East that come to the United States to marry unknown immigrants that they know only by pictures provided by the agencies. The sacrifice of the lead character Nikki is heartbreaking and she is aware of her duty with her unknown husband-to-be. The direction and cinematography are top-notch and the art direction is rich in details. Despite the unknown cast, the performances are excellent. I bought this DVD many years ago and only yesterday I saw this great movie, and I regret a lot. My vote is eight.Title (Brazil): "Noivas" ("Brides")

The film was really disappointing. I cannot believe that the director was Martin Scorsese. At the end of the film I asked myself; What did the film want to tell? What was its aim? The psychological problems the brides were having could not be mentioned properly throughout the film. The film told the problems of only two women (Niki and Haro). The problem about the Russian girls could not be understood and stayed unanswered. The American photographer (Mr.Harris) was acting awful, his sentences were real-clichés. Niki's hair's turning white was not dramatic but comic. There were also inconsistent events. The dialogs were poor in general. In short the film was a waste of time.

I saw this movie on June 17 '05 at the Acadamy of Motion Pictures theater in Bevery Hills. It is an outstanding movie. Damien Lewis is very good in the film. The lead actress Victoria Haralambidou (?) is also excellent. Those with Greek blood and especially those of the diaspora will find deep emotions in this film. I came away feeling that it is a testament to the strength of Greek women. I hope that it soon will be distributed widely in the USA so that it can be seen by a wider audience. There is an unforgettable scene of all the mail order brides in their wedding dresses from throughout Greece, Turkey, and Russia. As the Damien Lewis character comments, "like snowflakes in the summer".

I saw this film which premiered at the Toronto Film Festival this September. The film was spoken in both Greek and English (by the appropriate characters). The director Pantelas Voulgaris and at least one of the principal actors, Jason Lewis were in attendance in the row in front of mine. The plot centered on an immigrant "mail-order bride" from Greece sailing to America to be wed to a Greek husband along with other young women from her country and other European brides. She meets an American photographer on board, played by Jason Lewis. While I thought the premise was different and interesting, the film lagged in parts and the chemistry did not seem to be there between the principals. There were some good supporting cast performances and it did manage to hold the interest. All in all, just entertaining but not memorable.