Z (1969)

Z
Directed by Costa-Gavras
Written by Jorge Semprún from of Vasilis Vasilikos
1969/France/Algeria
IMDb link
One of 1001 Movies You Must See Before You Die
Repeat viewing/Criterion Channel

[box] Françoise Bonnot, Voiceover Narration: [final lines] The military regime banned: long hair, miniskirts, Sophocles, Tolstoy, Euripides, Russian-style toasts, strikes, Aristophanes, Ionesco, Sartre, Albee, Pinter, freedom of the press, sociology, Beckett, Dostoyevsky, modern music, pop music, new math, and the letter Z, which means HE LIVES in Ancient Greek.[/box]

Not a comfort watch for Lockdown but a a masterpiece of political cinema.

In an unnamed country (clearly Greece), political feeling is high with a repressive military junta in almost full control.  There is also a leftist opposition party with a peace platform, branded as communist by the junta.  As the film begins, the opposition is attempting to hold a political rally but is denied permission to gather anywhere.  Eventually, “Z” (Yves Montand), an opposition Deputy and respected ex-Olympic athlete, gives a speech over loudspeaker to a crowd made up of military police, rabble rousers, and supporters.  He is struck brutally in the head by hired thugs and eventually dies of his injuries.

Jean-Louis Trintignant plays the prosecutor who tries to find the truth for the remainder of the film.  The violence does not stop.  Several witnesses are murdered.  The prosecutor is subjected to enormous pressure to find the killing an accident.  With Irene Papas, in a nearly wordless but moving performance, as Montand’s wife and Renato Salvatori and Marcel Bozuffi as hired thugs Vago and Yago.

This film beautifully combines ideology with a story that also works superbly as a tense thriller.  Costa-Gavras did a beautiful job here. I think the only movie that equals this one for the realism of its crowd scenes is Pontecorvo’s The Battle of Algiers (1966).  The acting, down to the smallest supporting part, is phenomenal.  The score intensifies the high drama of the thing.  Highly recommended.

Z won Academy Awards for Best Foreign-Language Film and Best Film Editing.  It was nominated for Best Picture (the first time a film was nominated in both the Foreign-Language and Best Picture categories); Best Director; and Best Writing, Best Screenplay Based on Material from another medium.