Z

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

First and foremost, it is a true story. It's the story of the assassination of Grigoris Lambrakis, that eventually led to the military junta. Every time I see it, it gives me the chills. Since Z was released while the junta was still in power, it was banned in Greece for several years. After the fall of the military junta, Z was worshiped, although we saw it on TV much later in order to avoid stirring passions. In terms of the plot, if you're not Greek, it's quite possible you might be left with many unanswered questions, but, in general, it is an accurate description of Greece during that era.

While Vassilikos' novel (written in 1966) has driven him to exile from 1967, Theodorakis was still in Greece under surveillance and managed to write his excellent score secretly.

Costa-Gavras gives us a top-class fast paced direction which hasn't aged even today, although I'm sure the Oscar was as much a political decision as a purely artistic one. What is truly spot-on is the casting. Both Montand and Trintignant excel, but even minor roles like Vago and Yago are portrayed in an extremely realistic way. My small objection would be Irene Papas staying near-silent throughout the movie. Although her talent allows her to pull it off with class, I really didn't understand why she was not supposed to talk.

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.

I would like to give a little history of Greece from WWII to the time when "Z" happens. The Greek people had successfully expelled the Nazis when English forces invaded the country and put the Nazi collaborators in power. The US army took over the effort in 1947, rounding up thousands of people and putting them in reeducation camps. By 1949, the "civil war" was over, with Greece under military rule.

Then, the story portrayed in "Z". Dr. Gregorios Lambrakis was beginning to speak for the people, when the junta gunned him down. In "Z", we get to see the investigation into the murder, exposing how the generals orchestrated it. They never say that the movie happens in Greece (although it clearly does), and more than simply a look at the CIA-installed regime that was ruling Greece from 1967 to 1974, it's a reminder of all totalitarian governments in the world. "Z" will very likely chill you.

... even today, although the abuse of government and power by those on both extremes of the political spectrum is usually far more subtle than the flagrant corruption and abuse presented here, but not always - as the murder of journalists by western sponsored nations is usually forgiven, especially if large reserves of oil can be used to acquire weapons from the sponsor.