Z (film)
The film
Z is a
1969 political
thriller directed by
Costa Gavras, with a screenplay in
French by the director, based on the novel of the same name by
Vassilis Vassilikos.
The film presents a (barely) fictionalized account of the events surrounding the assassination of democratic
Greek politician
Gregoris Lambrakis in
1963. With its satirical view of Greek politics, its dark sense of humor, and its chilling ending, the film captures a sense of outrage about the
military dictatorship that ruled Greece at the time.
The film stars
Jean-Louis Trintignant as the investigating magistrate (
Christos Sartzetakis, later to be
Greece's
President of the
Republic). Although they are given star billing because of their international reputation,
Yves Montand and
Irene Papas, are on-screen for a very short time compared to the other principals.
Jacques Perrin, who co-produced, plays a key role.
The location of the action is never expressly stated, but there are hints (
e.g. a Greek typewriter) indicating that it is Greece in the early
1960s. Filming took place primarily in
Algiers.
In the opening credits, there is a counter-
disclaimer which reads (translated from French): "Any resemblance to real events, to persons living or dead, is not accidental. It is DELIBERATE."
The story begins with the leader of the security
police of a
right-wing military-dominated government describing the government's program to combat leftism, using the metaphors of "a mildew of the mind", an
infiltration of "
isms", or "sunspots".
The scene shifts to preparations for the Deputy (Montand) to arrive to give a speech at a rally of the opposition faction. After giving his speech, the Deputy is run down by a delivery truck and suffers a fatal brain injury. The
examining magistrate (Trintignant), with the assistance of the photojournalist (Perrin) uncovers sufficient evidence to indict not only the two right-wing militants who committed the murder, but also four high-ranking military police officers. The action of the film concludes with one of the Deputy's associates rushing to see the Deputy's widow (Papas) to give her the surprising news.
Instead of the expected positive outcome, however, the prosecutor is mysteriously removed from the case, key witnesses die under suspicious circumstances, the assassins, though convicted of murder, receive (relatively) short sentences, the officers receive only administrative reprimands, the Deputy's close associates die or are deported, and the photojournalist is sent to prison for disclosing official documents.
As the closing credits roll, instead of listing the cast and crew, the filmmakers list the things banned by the junta. They include:
peace movements,
strikes,
labor unions, long hair on men,
The Beatles, other modern and popular
music ("
la musique populaire"),
Sophocles,
Leo Tolstoy,
Aeschylus, writing that
Socrates was homosexual,
Eugène Ionesco,
Jean-Paul Sartre,
Anton Chekhov,
Mark Twain,
Samuel Beckett, the
bar association,
sociology, international
encyclopedias,
free press,
new math. Also banned is the letter
Z, which has been scrawled on the sidewalk as the film's final image, as a symbolic reminder that
Lambrakis and by extension the spirit of resistance lives (
zi = "he (Lambrakis) lives").
*
Yves Montand - The Deputy
*
Irene Papas - Helene, the Deputy's wife
*
Jean-Louis Trintignant - The Examining Magistrate
*
Jacques Perrin - Photojournalist
*
Charles Denner - Manuel
*
François Périer - Public Prosecutor
*
Pierre Dux - The General
*
Georges Géret - Nick (as Georges Geret)
*
Bernard Fresson - Matt
*
Marcel Bozzuffi - Vago (as Marcel Bozzufi)
*
Julien Guiomar - The Colonel
*
Magali Noël - Nick's Sister
*
Renato Salvatori - Yago
*
Habib Reda*
Clotilde Joano - Shoula (as Clotilde Joanno)
*
Maurice Baquet - The Bald Man
*
Sid Ahmed Agoumi *
Allel El Mouhib *
Hassan Hassani - The General's Chaffeur
*
Gérard Darrieu - Baron
*
Jean Bouise - Georges Pirou
*
Jean-Pierre Miquel - Pierre
*
Van Doude - The Hospital Director
*
Jean Dasté - Illya Coste
*
Jean-François Gobbi - Jimmy the Boxer
*
Guy Mairesse - Dumas
*
Andrée Tainsy - Nick's Mother
*
Eva Simonet - Niki
*
José Artur - Newspaper Editor (uncredited)
*
Raoul Coutard - The english surgeon (uncredited)
*
Bob de Bragelonne - Undersecretary of State (uncredited)
*
Steve Gadler - English Photographer (uncredited)
*
Gabriel Jabbour - Bozzini (uncredited)
*
Georges Rouquier (uncredited)
Z was nominated for many top awards, including an
Oscar for Best Picture and the
Golden Globe for Best Foreign Language Picture, and was named best film by the
New York Film Critics Circle Awards and
National Society of Film Critics Awards. The film was also nominated for a
Golden Palm award at the
Cannes film festival. It won the 'Prix du Jury' (Jury Prize) at the 1969 Cannes Film Festival and Jean-Louis Trintignant also won the 'Prix d'interprétation masculine' (Best Male Actor) award for his performance in the film. It won the Oscar awards in the
editing and
foreign film categories. The soundtrack, by
Mikis Theodorakis, was also a hit.
