The Art House Beat: 40th Anniversary Reissue of "Z" Also Hitchcock and James Bond in 1969

There has never been a shortage of politically overt thrillers from Europe, but none enjoyed the popular success of “Z,” which returns to the Varsity theater (July 31-August 7) for its 40th anniversary.

Nobody is identified by name, but a non-disclaimer at the beginning of the film insists that similarities to real people and events is intentional. While the most of the principal actors are French, and the locale is Algeria, there has never been any doubt that Costa-Gavras’ Oscar Winning thriller is about the 1963 assassination of Gregorious Lambrakis’s and the subsequent investigation and trial that brought down the Greek government.

“Z” is directed and acted with urgency, its ideas coming as hard and as fast as the action. The fresh storytelling is as revolutionary today as it was in 1969. Costa-Gavras introduces the characters and events leading up to the assassination with depth and efficiency. When the murder is committed, it is as sudden and horrific as the shower knifing of Marion Crane in “Psycho.”  The second hour of the film covers the investigation and trial of the perpetrators, their perjurious testimonies exposed by flash cuts, and the fall of the government treated as a moment of hope that is soon extinguished.

In 1963, the right-wing government of Greece viewed left wing thought as an ideological illness that spread like a mildew throughout society. All an individual had to do to become part of this mildew was to support nuclear disarmament or speak out against such things American involvement in Vietnam. It was a society in which ideas alone were enough to provoke violence, and intellectuals were attacked in the street and beaten by thugs. The heroes of Z are the court, which brings the truth to light , and the press, which brings that light  to the people. The magistrate (Jean Louis-Trintignant) is a personification of the search for objective truth, as he himself was politically on the right, and had no ideological reason to go after the military and government officials behind the cover-up.

Among the many memorable scenes is one in which the magistrate, accompanied by Mikis Theodorakis’ marching band music, hands down murder indictments to the top military brass. Even more devastating is the aftermath of the trial, which began with the toppling of the government and ended in a military take-over which outlawed everything from rock music to the letter Z, which means, in ancient Greek, “He Is Alive”.