Z

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.

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

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.

... 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.

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.