Z Movie Review
Costa-Gavras's electrifying thriller is based on the assassination of a Greek anti-war activist and physician (Yves Montand) in the 1960s, and the ensuing, government-toppling investigation. There are a few portions of Z that have less impact today than when the film was originally released; most of them are action and chase scenes that have been eclipsed so handily in contemporary movies that they seem a bit quaint. But the meat-and-potatoes of Z, which is Jean-Louis Trintignant's relentless investigation into the conspiracy surrounding Montand's murder, can still, as Pauline Kael put it in 1969, “damn near knock you out of your seat.” The second half of Z is the world's first political music video; the rhythm of the investigation becomes exhilarating, and Françoise Bonnot's staccato editing couples with Mikis Theodorakis's pounding score to produce an irresistible, intoxicating pull. Some complained about what they found to be a bludgeoning, propagandistic tone in Costa-Gavras's style, but when he toned down the punchiness for his extraordinary subsequent film. The Confession, almost no one went to see it. One of the most successful foreign-language films of its time, and one of the few to ever be nominated for an Oscar as Best Picture, Z was the winner of the Jury Prize at the 1969 Cannes Film Festival.
NEXT STOP … The Confession, Missing, JFK
1969 128m/C FR Yves Montand, Jean-Louis Trintignant, Irene Papas, Charles Denner, Georges Geret, Jacques Perrin, Francois Perier, Marcel Bozzuffl; D: Constantin Costa-Gavras; W: Constantin Costa-Gavras; M: Mikis Theodorakis. Academy Awards ‘69: Best Film Editing, Best Foreign Film; Cannes Film Festival ‘69: Special Jury Prize, Best Actor (Trintignant); Golden Globe Awards ‘70: Best Foreign Film; New York Film Critics Awards ‘69: Best Director (Costa-Gavras), Best Film; National Society of Film Critics Awards ‘69: Best Film; Nominations: Academy Awards ‘69: Best Adapted Screenplay, Best Director (Costa-Gavras), Best Picture; Cannes Film Festival ‘69: Best Film. VHS, LV FXL