Film Z (1969)

Off in make-believe, Zorro emblazoned "Z"s onto hillsides and exploitative aristocrats as his qui vive declaration. But in 1965, the billowy letter appeared on the rabble-filled streets of Greece, declaring that a different "he" was alive — at least in spirit. That symbolic figure would be Gregoris Lambrakis, a pacifist pathfinder who was assassinated as part of a government conspiracy. Director Costa-Gavras' spellbinding recreation of the restless historic moment — call Z a rousing, punchy docudrama — outclasses same-minded political thrillers with its gathering of grade-A talent. The film's true-to-life events seethe with vitality thanks to Raoul Coutard's famed, on-the-fly cinematography, Mikis Theodorakis' bump-goes-the-corruption score, and Jean-Louis Trintignant's turn as the insistent reporter out for the inconvenient truth.