Z

When the preview of "Z" was shown at the Oscars, it received a standing ovation. I didn't know why until I saw the movie. The Oscar forced it to be shown in the United States. At the time, the US backed the military government in Greece. The totalitarian government represented a stand against communism. This movie depicts the true story of a beloved olympic athlete who became a doctor and began speaking out against his Greek government. For that, he was murdered. This is about a brave investigator who begins to search for the origin of the orders to have the doctor killed.

It leads to the downfall of a country. Mikis Theordorakis wrote the music from house arrest in Greece and it was smuggled out to be placed on the film. Yves Montand played the lead role and was blacklisted from getting a US Visa for his participation until some strings were pulled and he was allowed a 24 hour visa, to be extended each 24 hours in order to allow him to film "On A Clear Day You Can See Forever". At the end of filming,that night he made a surprise appearance on Johnny Carson's Tonight Show. He told the story about "Z" and commented that he was in the care and custody of US Immigration and the FBI. The camera panned right and a dark suited man slid quickly behind the curtain. He apologized for his abruptness, but his visa expired at midnight and he had to get to the airport. When I saw these things, I was shocked my government would take a movie so seriously. When it showed up in an obscure movie theater in Houston, I had to go. I was the only person buying a ticket just after noon that day. Upon entering the theater, a dark suited man was sitting in the lobby. I walked into theater and then stuck my head back out to see what the only other individual in the theater was doing. He was stepping away from the ticket booth. I watched as he walked the short distance to my car, took out a notebook and wrote in it while looking at my license plate. This is how it happened. It was 1969. J. Edgar Hoover had stated publicly that no truly loyal American would pay money to see such a movie. It was unpatriotic. Newspaper articles that spring reported it.

Watch this movie and consider the importance "entertainment" can have on government, media, and yourself.

Each occasion who I saw this remarkable film, I discovered new virtue of it. First - the cast . Impressive at whole under the art of Costas Gavras. Second, the slice of Greece contemporary story. Not the last, the universal message. A great film about dictatorship and justice, values and idealism. Powerful message about fragility and mistakes of democacy, splendid hommage to the truth.

This is not a review.All that is need to be written about this masterpiece of a film has already been written.

However there are 1-2 things worth mentioning that might interest some folks that are not from Greece: Jean Louis Trintignant's character "The Examining Magistrate" was in reality Christos Sargetakis who became the president of Greece for 5 years(1985-1990).

The film ends with the rise of the military dictatorship and it is suggested that the upposition didn't really capitalise on Lambrakis' assassination.That's not what happened in reality.

In reality the Lambrakis assassination caused the resignation of prime minister Karamanlis(the right wing P.M of Greece at that time) and the triumph of the upposition(something like the democrats in the U.S,the G.Papandreou party,NOT Lambrakis' left wing party) in the elections of 1963 with a whooping 54% which becomes even bigger when taking into account the situation in Greece at that time,with right-wing police controlling everything and manipulating the citizens.

Of course the film was made after the democratic-elected government had fallen and junta had taken over.(in fact the democratic government had fallen 2 years*in 1965* before the junta took over and we had a false semi-democratic government that consisted right wing members of parliament and defected members of the G.Papandreou party)

So in reality the Lambrakis assassination DID make a difference in Greece,if only for 2 years(1963-1965) while on the film nothing changed.I guess with the ultimate rise of the junta that was reigning at the time the film was made it was proper to make the film bleaker than the true events.

In this film, we find ourselves in a big city in a nameless country, whose political system is royal democracy. However in effect it is under a military regime. At that time, a pacifist politician-doctor-athlete arrives to deliver a speech about disarmament. This does not please the military, who devise a plot to do away with him. The politician is killed and his murder is covered up as an accident. The rest of the film is about the efforts of the Examining Magistrate and a newspaper photographer to uncover the truth.

For those who are up to date with Greek history, the country is Greece, the city is Thessaloniki and the politician is Grigoris Lambrakis. But that is of small importance, since this is a story which could have (and possibly has) happened anywhere at any time in history.

About the film: the cinematography is excellent, even by today's standards. The acting and direction are both top class. But what impressed me the most was the film's editing. After the slow first 15-20 minutes or so, the film picks up a pace which is tight and lightning fast. The dialogue is concise and to the point - the film's last lines, spoken by the Narrator and found in the quotes section of IMDb, never fail to bring tears to my eyes. Finally, the film offers what I consider to be the best film score of all time (but I may be a bit biased on this, since the score is by Mikis Theodorakis, my personal favourite).

This kind of documentary-style film making has been done plenty of times since, especially in political thrillers. But this is what sparked everything up. Watch this film. You'll be rewarded.

My rating: 10/10

This is a great Costa-Gavras' masterpiece about a political confusion caused by a murder of a politic. Costa-Gravas again shows his talent in this interesting film that is full of conspiracy, tension and confusion. The plot is complex but you can follow it and, once you do it, you enjoy the film a lot. There's this dark atmosphere in the whole length of the movie that gives it a nice and enchanting look. I think the best way to watch "Z" is in total silence, with your eyes glued to the screen and your mind turned towards the frames and all the great actions and dialogues.

My rate 8 out of 10