Z

Z (1969)

He is alive!

A prominent politician is murdered during a demonstration. The government and army are trying to suppress the truth, but a tenacious magistrate is determined not to let them get away with it.

Date of release
1969-02-26
TMDB
7.8 / 10 (662)
Runtime
2h 2m
Genres
Thriller, Crime, Drama
Director
Costa-Gavras

Casting

Interesting facts

  • Box office: $17.3M
  • Based on: Z
  • Filmed in: Algiers
  • Awards: 2 · Nominations: 6. Including: Academy Award for Best Film Editing; Academy Award for Best International Feature Film

Z is a 1969 political thriller film directed by Costa-Gavras, from a screenplay he co-wrote with Jorge Semprún, adapted from the 1967 novel by Vassilis Vassilikos. The film presents a thinly fictionalized account of the events surrounding the assassination of democratic Greek politician Grigoris Lambrakis in 1963. With its dark view of Greek politics and its downbeat ending, the film captures the director's outrage about the junta that ruled Greece at the time when it was made. The title refers to a popular Greek protest slogan meaning "he lives," in reference to Lambrakis.

Production

Principal photography took place in Algiers at actor Jacques Perrin's suggestion, which the filmmakers approved for its Mediterranean environment and because the Ministry of Culture was accommodating. In Algiers, the Hotel St. Georges and the central square were filming locations, while Paris' Théâtre des Champs-Élysées was used for the ballet scenes.

Costa-Gavras chose Z as the title of the film based on its common occurrence in Greek graffiti for "He lives" (or even "Lambrakis you live; it’s you who guides us!" [Λαμπράκη ζεις, εσύ μας οδηγείς!; Lambráki zis, esý mas odigís!]); Costa-Gavras acknowledged a one-letter film title was unconventional and said Yves Montand expressed concern it would be confused with Zorro, but Costa-Gavras said the novelty of the idea won him over.

Read on Wikipedia · Text from Wikipedia, CC BY-SA 4.0. Data from Wikidata.

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