Rating: 
Summary: Probably the only truly great thing Montand has done.
Review: A complicated if naive, by today's standards, tale of political intrigue and government cover-up. Historically important. Vassily Vassilikos's book and subsequent screen play caused his exile from his native Greece during the time of the "Generals". A must for anyone seeking to understand the Mediterranean mentality, and the political machinations of Southern Europe.
Rating:
Summary: Captures the essence of govt. out of control I.E. "JFK"
Review: A great movie, I have seen it several times, when it was dubbed in English (my third viewing), it lost something for me. An assembly of people who are believable, do not over-act and under play the dynamics of what is occurring. Not a big player in America, even with the college set in 1969, I thought it conjured up thoughts of JFK, Martin Luther King, Bobby Kennedy.
Rating:
Summary: Memorable Film In An Excellent DVD Restoration
Review: Although it is seldom seen today, in 1970 Constantin Costa-Gavras' "Z" picked up both the New York Film Critics Circle Award for Best Picture and an Academy Award as Best Foreign Film. In the wake of the John and Robert Kennedy and Martin Luther King assassinations of the 1960s and fueled by the later Watergate scandal, the film had tremendous resonance with American audiences, becoming one of the highest grossing foreign language films ever released in that market.Based on the novel by Vassilis Vassilikos, which was itself based on the 1966 "Lambrakis Affair" in Greece, "Z" is at once a political thriller and satire. Set in an unnamed nation, it presents a politician who is strongly critical of American and Russian nuclear build up and his nation's participation in it. Denounced by the status quo as a communist, he is met with civic obstruction when he arrives to give a speech and afterward is struck down and killed by a speeding truck in the streets. A drunk driving accident, according to local officials. An assassination, according to his entourage. Although the film has a somewhat slow and uncertain build, once fully underway it becomes a rapid-fire series of sharply edited scenes in which the sloppy assassination plot is unraveled by a dispassionate magistrate sent to conduct an investigation--an investigation plagued by assaults on witnesses and civic cover-up. But in such a corrupt society, can the full truth ever be known? Director Costa-Gavras walks a very fine line here, presenting the characters as archetypes but endowing them yet endowing with enough human emotion to engage our interests and sympathies. And the cast is remarkable, with Yves Montond, Irene Papas, and Jean-Louis Trintignant particularly notable. The script is at once chilling and covertly comic, jeering at officialdom around the corners of its more serious business, and the overall look of the film--particularly in the violent crowd scenes--is truly memorable. The film has been restored to a pristine condition in its original widescreen and the DVD offers a number of language subtitles (including English) in easy-to-read yellow script. Bonus features are slight, but include the original trailer, samples of restoration work, and an extremely interesting conversation between novelist Vassilikos and director Costa-Gavras. Consta-Gravas also offers an audio-commentary--in French, which will be frustrating for those who (like me) do not speak the language. Although some viewers may not even notice the satirical tone of the film, and while some will be put off by its distinctly liberal slant, I think most viewers--including those who don't normally care for foreign film--will find "Z" a fascinating ride, particularly if they enjoyed the likes of JFK or THE MANCHURIAN CANDIDATE. Time may have dimmed the origins of the piece, but sadly the subject of governmental corruption and the mendacity of powerbrokers remains as timely as ever. GFT, Amazon Reviewer
Rating:
Summary: Memorable Film In An Excellent DVD Restoration
Review: Although it is seldom seen today, in 1970 Constantin Costa-Gavras' "Z" picked up both the New York Film Critics Circle Award for Best Picture and an Academy Award as Best Foreign Film. In the wake of the John and Robert Kennedy and Martin Luther King assassinations of the 1960s and fueled by the later Watergate scandal, the film had tremendous resonance with American audiences, becoming one of the highest grossing foreign language films ever released in that market. Based on the novel by Vassilis Vassilikos, which was itself based on the 1966 "Lambrakis Affair" in Greece, "Z" is at once a political thriller and satire. Set in an unnamed nation, it presents a politician who is strongly critical of American and Russian nuclear build up and his nation's participation in it. Denounced by the status quo as a communist, he is met with civic obstruction when he arrives to give a speech and afterward is struck down and killed by a speeding truck in the streets. A drunk driving accident, according to local officials. An assassination, according to his entourage. Although the film has a somewhat slow and uncertain build, once fully underway it becomes a rapid-fire series of sharply edited scenes in which the sloppy assassination plot is unraveled by a dispassionate magistrate sent to conduct an investigation--an investigation plagued by assaults on witnesses and civic cover-up. But in such a corrupt society, can the full truth ever be known? Director Costa-Gavras walks a very fine line here, presenting the characters as archetypes but endowing them yet endowing with enough human emotion to engage our interests and sympathies. And the cast is remarkable, with Yves Montond, Irene Papas, and Jean-Louis Trintignant particularly notable. The script is at once chilling and covertly comic, jeering at officialdom around the corners of its more serious business, and the overall look of the film--particularly in the violent crowd scenes--is truly memorable. The film has been restored to a pristine condition in its original widescreen and the DVD offers a number of language subtitles (including English) in easy-to-read yellow script. Bonus features are slight, but include the original trailer, samples of restoration work, and an extremely interesting conversation between novelist Vassilikos and director Costa-Gavras. Consta-Gravas also offers an audio-commentary--in French, which will be frustrating for those who (like me) do not speak the language. Although some viewers may not even notice the satirical tone of the film, and while some will be put off by its distinctly liberal slant, I think most viewers--including those who don't normally care for foreign film--will find "Z" a fascinating ride, particularly if they enjoyed the likes of JFK or THE MANCHURIAN CANDIDATE. Time may have dimmed the origins of the piece, but sadly the subject of governmental corruption and the mendacity of powerbrokers remains as timely as ever. GFT, Amazon Reviewer
Rating: 
Summary: Costa-Gavras's breakthrough drama
Review: Constantin Costa-Gavras's breakthrough hit. A powerful (though choppy and polemical) drama based on the "Lambrakis affair" in Greece preceding the 1967 US-backed military coup there. Lambrakis, a popular leftist legislator (Yves Montand), is murdered, and evidence mounts of a conspiracy implicating police officials. Story gradually builds momentum and becomes compelling, aided by an outstanding Mikis Theodorakis score. This film appeared in the middle of the colonels' régime (1967-74), and people who had been in Greece told me at the time that it was dangerous there to talk about this film or the Vassilikos book it came from. Costa-Gavras later directed and sometimes also screenwrote other films with themes of political corruption and conspiracy: State of Siege (1973), Special Section (1975), Missing (1982). Z normally appears in the US in subtitled form; I urge skipping any English-dubbed version, if such even exists. Some films take better to dubbing than others. In this case the issue is not just the integrity of the work but the flavor of the experience. Z effectively evokes the pre-coup milieu of a semi-corrupt Mediterranean parliamentary monarchy (and theater of cold-war manipulations). The scenes would lose atmosphere, were the characters forced to mouth gringo English. (Beware also of a later, inferior set of English subtitle text that has appeared, not as alive as the language in the standard theatrical subtitles. In those originals, the catch phrase that trips up the witnesses in the investigation is "Like a tiger. Lithe and fierce, like a tiger.") More even than Vassilikos's book, this film presents the assassination and its aftermath as self-contained, rather than locating them within the extensive turmoil in Greece after Second World War (and the brutal German occupation). As a potential southern anchor for the Iron Curtain after the war, Greece experienced a bloody, nearly successful attempted Communist takeover (supported by Stalin with his customary concern for the welfare of the masses). The colonels' coup can be seen as oppressive backlash against this Communist effort. Very roughly as McCarthyism in the US can be seen, by those acquainted with the context, as an oppressive opportunistic backlash against the fashionable support for Stalin and Communism in the US in the 1930s. The latter helped to deflect criticism of the dictator and his deeds and might account, indirectly, for 100 or 1000 times the number of victims that McCarthyism did (and victims of a more permanent kind). Those victims were not US writers and film directors, however, so it is not their stories that are told (so movingly) in US dramas today.
Rating:
Summary: Costa-Gavras's breakthrough drama
Review: Constantin Costa-Gavras's breakthrough hit. A powerful (though choppy and polemical) drama based on the "Lambrakis affair" in Greece preceding the 1967 US-backed military coup there. Lambrakis, a popular leftist legislator (Yves Montand), is murdered, and evidence mounts of a conspiracy implicating police officials. Story gradually builds momentum and becomes compelling, aided by an outstanding Mikis Theodorakis score. This film appeared in the middle of the colonels' régime (1967-74), and people who had been in Greece told me at the time that it was dangerous there to talk about this film or the Vassilikos book it came from. Costa-Gavras later directed and sometimes also screenwrote other films with themes of political corruption and conspiracy: State of Siege (1973), Special Section (1975), Missing (1982). Z normally appears in the US in subtitled form; I urge skipping any English-dubbed version, if such even exists. Some films take better to dubbing than others. In this case the issue is not just the integrity of the work but the flavor of the experience. Z effectively evokes the pre-coup milieu of a semi-corrupt Mediterranean parliamentary monarchy (and theater of cold-war manipulations). The scenes would lose atmosphere, were the characters forced to mouth gringo English. (Beware also of a later, inferior set of English subtitle text that has appeared, not as alive as the language in the standard theatrical subtitles. In those originals, the catch phrase that trips up the witnesses in the investigation is "Like a tiger. Lithe and fierce, like a tiger.") More even than Vassilikos's book, this film presents the assassination and its aftermath as self-contained, rather than locating them within the extensive turmoil in Greece after Second World War (and the brutal German occupation). As a potential southern anchor for the Iron Curtain after the war, Greece experienced a bloody, nearly successful attempted Communist takeover (supported by Stalin with his customary concern for the welfare of the masses). The colonels' coup can be seen as oppressive backlash against this Communist effort. Very roughly as McCarthyism in the US can be seen, by those acquainted with the context, as an oppressive opportunistic backlash against the fashionable support for Stalin and Communism in the US in the 1930s. The latter helped to deflect criticism of the dictator and his deeds and might account, indirectly, for 100 or 1000 times the number of victims that McCarthyism did (and victims of a more permanent kind). Those victims were not US writers and film directors, however, so it is not their stories that are told (so movingly) in US dramas today.
Rating:
Summary: Superbly-paced political thriller...
Review: Costa Gavras presents the ruthlessness of THE STATE determined to defend itself against enemies...perceived or actual...foreign or domestic. The 1966 coup d'etat of George Pappadapolos and the Greek Colonels is the context of this film which was, perhaps, overly-regarded because of its topicality when released in 1969. The murder of The Deputy...well-played by Yves Montand...now conveys a more universal impact of menace. The Montand character is literally run over. Citizens of any bastion of democracy might reflect on the reality that a "mighty" State can (and often does) run over whatever opposes its designs. The superb pacing, and occasionaly jarring musical score of this film turn a film viewed as a manifesto against fascism into a political "thriller". But viewers might recall the words of the Investigating Magistrate...played with understatement by Jean-Louis Trintignant...when he indicts the military clique responsible for assassination and conspiracy to obstruct justice: You are charged with criminal collusion and abuse of power! (Two days later he finds himself arrested as an ememy of the state under martial law) If "Z" means that the "spirit" of freedom lives; so unfortunately does the spirit that would crush it. Thus, in this political thriller, Costa Gavras has produced a fable that restates the price freedom seems inevitably to exact...
Rating:
Summary: Metaphor for American intervention in other countries
Review: I first saw this film in 1970 when I was a college student. In 2004, it retains its relevance to me as an Amercian. A few years after this film was released, the CIA intervened in Chile when they assisted in the overthrow of a democratically-elected Communist president. Sometime before that the U.S. government had enabled the Shah of Iran to come to power in that country. In the 1980s, the U.S. supported insurgents against another democratically-elected Communist in Central America. Now the U.S. has militarily overthrown the leader of Iraq, is maintaining an occupation force in that nation, and is seeking to establish a new government there. So this movie -- which was about a 1962 military coup in Greece -- has significant meaning for Americans. This is not a particularly well-made film technically. There are several scenes where cameras and the boom are visible. The script is not very compelling, either. The actors are European veterans and the emotional power is great, leading to an unforgettable conclusion that violates the sensibilities of people that love freedom and democracy. These are the reasons, in my opinion, that this film won an Academy Award and resonated with the American intelligentsia. "Z" is not pleasant viewing but is an antidote to airheadedness in a time when most Americans are more concerned with liposuction, botox injections and push-up bras than national intervention in other nations.
Rating: 
Summary: A gripping political drama
Review: I was 19 and it was 1970. Z was an incredibly important film in my life. In 1971, I spent a summer in Greece, holding my tongue, while Army officers in bars explained how they had been trained in the United States. I had my first experience in Greece of not being able to freely speak my mind. We Americans cherish our ability to mouth off in the local tavern, even if we can't do it at work. I make references to everyone being at the Bolshoi to this day. Incredibly powerful. Z. He lives.
Rating:
Summary: A film that you will never forget
Review: I was 22 when I saw the film in London. That was 1969, a year after the French students uprise in Paris and we were taking over buildings in universities. I was dazed by the film when it ended. The scene of which when President Kennedy was assassinated in 1963 also floated in my mind. This is a very very power film and you will feel you want to do something after you have seen it. The music by Theodorakis was just too good and it helped to strengthen what Costa-Gavra was trying to put across. The film came out at a right place and at a right time!
I hope DVD manufacturers will pick this up and turn it in to a collector's item. It is very much worth keeping even to show it to your grand children!
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