has been murdered and death is tapping his watch at me, yet I feel so
alive." That is what Nikos Lambrakis declares just after he has been
given his own funeral. Lepers were treated as the living dead. Nikos
is young, handsome has just graduated law and has everything going for
him, then learns he has leprosy. It is 1936 and there is no cure. He
is exiled to the rock island of Spinalonga, just off the coast of
Crete, where there is no food, no power, and no medical treatment. The
food situation is desperate and the population is dying from
starvation. The ironic cruelty is that there is food all around them
but they have no way of getting the fish to jump out of the water, the
birds to fall from the sky and the small wild game to fly over from
the mainland. But Nikos finds a way. He catches an eagle and trains it
to hunt. Nikos then gives the people something no one thinks about
until they no longer have it, law and order. Nikos creates the city
state of Spinalonga using the example of the ancient Greek philosophy
brings dignity and civility to Spinalonga. Then the Nazis try to take
over and things really get interesting. Based on a true story.