Byron, Ballad for a Daemon

January 1824. Lord Byron arrives in Messolonghi, a small town on the west coast of Greece to be greeted as a Messiah by the Greeks who are in rebellion against the powerful Ottoman Empire. Exiled from his own country, ostracized by society for his erotic adventures, tired of a futile life in London salons, Byron is ready to throw himself into the battle and die like a hero out of Homer. But in this devastated land he finds only... mud, mosquitoes and the anticipation of war. The Greeks make him a general of an army of peasants, wanderers, mercenaries and adventurers. The general prepares his army for a battle that never takes place. Still, driven by the beautiful ancient myths of Greece and the Greeks, Byron is determined to give his last performance. In the chaos of revolution, racked by fever, by the ghosts of his past and by his love for the young Greek Lukas, the poet descends into his hell-defying destiny as it approaches.

Cast:
Manos Vakousis (George Gordon Byron)
Vera Sotnikova (Augusta)
Vasilis Laggos (Fletcher)
Farkhad Makhmudov (Loukas)

Director: Nikos Koundouros
Writer: Nikos Koundouros, Fotis Konstantinidis
Runtime: 138 min
Genre: Biography, Drama
Language: English, Greek
Production Year: 1992