LOGLINE
Trapped in the majestic White Mountains of Nazi occupied Crete during WWII, a traumatic public execution
propels a Greek-American freedom fighter and his 11-year old niece into a journey of vengeance, honor, and
the life changing experience of becoming… a P A L I K Á R I... (Brave Warrior... Hero).
A triumph of the spirit… in the vein of Life is Beautiful, The Shawshank Redemption and The Guns of Navarone!
PREFACE
by Adoni Maropis (co-writer)
I began writing this triumph of the spirit script with my father because he is my hero… and I love him.
THE LAST PALIKÁRI is set on the war-torn, German occupied island of Crete, Greece during WWII and, as we all know, death, violence, and hatred is a part of war as well as our daily lives. The script’s core theme, though, is about a vengeful guerrilla fighter’s struggle to keep fighting yet not pass on the cycle of violence, killing, and hate to his 11-year-old, tomboy niece and still raise her to be brave!
I truly believe that if every father, mother, uncle, grandfather, etc… was like my father, Petro S. Maropis (co-writer), the world would slowly begin to lift itself up to a better place… a place of understanding and ultimately love for our fellow men and women. My father survived a terrorist attack on August 5, 1973. He literally had a hand grenade bounce off his leg. He has permanent shrapnel in his body, yet is perfectly healthy and athletic to this day… thank God. Being a ten-year-old child at the time of this horrific event, I wanted to kill these two individuals responsible for this terrorist attack, and I also had a passionate hate for all people of their nationality. But, my dad said to me, “Adoni, I don’t want you to hate these people. I want you to know that I understand their plight.” I said, “But they tried to kill you, Baba, and they hurt you!” He said, “Just like in every other country in the world, the people are generally good people. Yes, the terrorists deserve to be punished for killing and crippling innocent people, but I don’t want you to grow up hating all the people of their country or nationality.” He continued, “We are Cretans, and our country has been conquered many times only to have us rise up and take it back again. I don’t know what I would do to take back what I thought was rightfully mine.”
In more recent years, we have seen great-grandmothers from Chechnya strapping bombs to themselves and holding children hostage in school. What brings people who have lived simple lives caring for their families to this state of desperation? Great-grandmothers???? We all have this passion in us if pushed to the edge. With that said, my Baba took the hit, yet he did not pass on hate to me. With me and my brothers, I believe my father has made the world a better place. While playing the most hated man on TV in 2007, the main villain and terrorist, Abu Fayed, on the hit series “24,” I, ironically, had the opportunity to spread love around the world by telling my father’s story on Larry King. I am doing my part and this script will hopefully touch the hearts and souls of all walks of life all over the world. If we could all come together and simply take on the incredible obstacles God has put before us… if we would join hands and help each other climb up those mountains, literally and figuratively… if we could all simply allow our hearts to swell and spread love around the world… what better place to start than with our own children. Touch their hearts and souls and we will touch the world!
The definition of a PALIKÁRI is, literally, a Brave Warrior… or… Brave Man! A brave person can certainly be a warrior, of course… but surely does not need to be. The way I see it, any man or woman who exemplifies courage on their journey in life is brave… and thus a PALIKÁRI . One thing is for sure, though, we don’t need haters in this world… WE NEED HEROES!
Trapped in the majestic White Mountains of Nazi occupied Crete during WWII, a traumatic public execution
propels a Greek-American freedom fighter and his 11-year old niece into a journey of vengeance, honor, and
the life changing experience of becoming… a P A L I K Á R I... (Brave Warrior... Hero).
A triumph of the spirit… in the vein of Life is Beautiful, The Shawshank Redemption and The Guns of Navarone!
PREFACE
by Adoni Maropis (co-writer)
I began writing this triumph of the spirit script with my father because he is my hero… and I love him.
THE LAST PALIKÁRI is set on the war-torn, German occupied island of Crete, Greece during WWII and, as we all know, death, violence, and hatred is a part of war as well as our daily lives. The script’s core theme, though, is about a vengeful guerrilla fighter’s struggle to keep fighting yet not pass on the cycle of violence, killing, and hate to his 11-year-old, tomboy niece and still raise her to be brave!
I truly believe that if every father, mother, uncle, grandfather, etc… was like my father, Petro S. Maropis (co-writer), the world would slowly begin to lift itself up to a better place… a place of understanding and ultimately love for our fellow men and women. My father survived a terrorist attack on August 5, 1973. He literally had a hand grenade bounce off his leg. He has permanent shrapnel in his body, yet is perfectly healthy and athletic to this day… thank God. Being a ten-year-old child at the time of this horrific event, I wanted to kill these two individuals responsible for this terrorist attack, and I also had a passionate hate for all people of their nationality. But, my dad said to me, “Adoni, I don’t want you to hate these people. I want you to know that I understand their plight.” I said, “But they tried to kill you, Baba, and they hurt you!” He said, “Just like in every other country in the world, the people are generally good people. Yes, the terrorists deserve to be punished for killing and crippling innocent people, but I don’t want you to grow up hating all the people of their country or nationality.” He continued, “We are Cretans, and our country has been conquered many times only to have us rise up and take it back again. I don’t know what I would do to take back what I thought was rightfully mine.”
In more recent years, we have seen great-grandmothers from Chechnya strapping bombs to themselves and holding children hostage in school. What brings people who have lived simple lives caring for their families to this state of desperation? Great-grandmothers???? We all have this passion in us if pushed to the edge. With that said, my Baba took the hit, yet he did not pass on hate to me. With me and my brothers, I believe my father has made the world a better place. While playing the most hated man on TV in 2007, the main villain and terrorist, Abu Fayed, on the hit series “24,” I, ironically, had the opportunity to spread love around the world by telling my father’s story on Larry King. I am doing my part and this script will hopefully touch the hearts and souls of all walks of life all over the world. If we could all come together and simply take on the incredible obstacles God has put before us… if we would join hands and help each other climb up those mountains, literally and figuratively… if we could all simply allow our hearts to swell and spread love around the world… what better place to start than with our own children. Touch their hearts and souls and we will touch the world!
The definition of a PALIKÁRI is, literally, a Brave Warrior… or… Brave Man! A brave person can certainly be a warrior, of course… but surely does not need to be. The way I see it, any man or woman who exemplifies courage on their journey in life is brave… and thus a PALIKÁRI . One thing is for sure, though, we don’t need haters in this world… WE NEED HEROES!