Beating Came Out of Paradise

The setting is a girl's school for the teenage daughters of upper class families. Most of the students are lazy party girls, because the teaching staff do not dare to discipline them. The handsome literature teacher Panos Floras is hired to teach at the school, despite being a generation younger than most of the other teachers. Annoyed by the smart-aleck comments of the students during his first lesson, Panos singles out Lisa Papastaurou for harsh criticism. At a later point, Lisa tries to flirt with the young teacher and he slaps her cheek. Lisa feigns serious injury to get him reprimanded by his superiors, but she is dismayed when Panos is fired. She uses her father's influence to get him reinstated, though Panos is still determined to enforce discipline. The other teachers are encouraged to start slapping the students to discipline them, and most of them are happy to do so. During a field trip, Lisa learns that her classmate Popi Alexiou is about to play a nasty prank on Panos. Lisa confronts her, and the two girls get into a physical fight. Panos stops the brawl, though he has no idea what they are fighting about. During a later lesson, Lisa is able to recite and translate ancient poetry by Sophocles concerning the invincibility of the love god Eros. She finally realizes that she is in love with her teacher. By the end of the school year, Lisa graduates the class. She has been unable to express her feelings to Panos, but she invites him to join her family in a car ride. As they leave, Lisa's classmates repeat Sophocles' poetry lines. They are all aware that Lisa is in love.