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Z - Costa-Gavras's Gripping 1969 Thriller on DVD

Z, the defiant 1969 political thriller as provocative expose by Costa-Gavras, begins with a statement that frames the film in no uncertain terms: "Any similarity to real persons and events is not coincidental. It is intentional." In place of a disclaimer, he offers a proclamation: Though he never names the country in which it takes place, the rigorous fidelity to the historical record is obviously Greece, the homeland of Costa-Gavras, where as right-wing military junta staged a coup in 1967 and put the country un repressive authoritarian rule. This is the filmmaker's angry denunciation of the fascist tactics to harass the liberal opposition, attack the leaders and ultimately overthrow the democratic government that had tacitly supported the military's tactics all along.

Costa-Gavras was born Konstantinos Gavras in Greece but emigrated to France to attend college. His father had been a Resistance fighter during the German occupation in World War II and immediately jailed after the war by the right wing government (much of it filled with former Nazi collaborators) as a suspected communist, as a result Costa-Gavras was barred from entering university in Greece, effectively blacklisted from any participation in his country. He stayed in France, eventually becoming a citizen and apprenticing in the film industry. Z was only his third feature but his first political project, and though it followed in a tradition that included Gillo Pontecorvo's The Battle of Algiers and Francesco Rosi's Salvatore Giuliano (among others), was a risk. Hollywood backed away from the production, afraid that its scathing indictment of Greece's totalitarian government would endanger distribution of other films in Greece, so Jacques Perrin, an actor and friend of Costa-Gavras, took on the mantle of producer and raised money in France to finance independently. The stars worked for a fraction of their usual salaries, brought on board by their support of the film's politics. Since filming in Greece was impossible, the production moved to Algeria.

Z is based loosely but unmistakably on the real life murder of Greek liberal politician Grigoris Lambrakis, an Olympic athlete, doctor, peace activist and Member of Parliament who became the magnetic leader of the rising progressive movement, and the documentary novel by Vassili Vassilikos of the same name. Z is no documentary but Costa-Gavras and his writer partner, Jorge Semprún, conducted their own research of what was essentially a state-sanctioned assassination and added their findings to their screenplay. It's agit-prop, to be sure, but it's thrilling, compelling, run through with vivid supporting characters and narrative twists and turns that have the dramatic punch of fiction even (perhaps especially) when based on real events.

Yves Montand plays the unnamed activist politician and peace movement leader with a public dignity and a private vulnerability (flashbacks show him still guilt-ridden over cheating on his wife), a dedicated pacifist who calls out of the police for their flagrant neglect to stop the brutal attacks on the peaceful demonstration. Jacques Perrin is a politically apathetic journalist who is present at the murder and chases the story with an almost mercenary zeal. As he elbows his way through the film, like a character from a Hollywood newspaper drama digging out a headline and getting a bigger story than he ever imagined, the film methodically details the machinations of the government and the military to cover it all up.

Jean-Louis Trintignant is barely a figure in the background through the first half of the film, a silent bureaucratic functionary seemingly in lockstep with the government officials marching toward a quick resolution. But when he's finally put in charge and begins his own investigation, he pulls at contradiction in the official story like threads in an incomplete weave and watches it unravel. The real life investigator, Christos Sartzetakis, was no liberal, but he was dedicated public servant who doggedly pursued the case no matter where it took him. Trintignant plays him as a political skeptic suspicious of the left and their accusations of official corruption. He's almost without personality, simply a determined force pursuing the evidence to the truth, no matter where it leads.

These central characters exhibit little emotion or dimension in the course of the movie. It's up to the minor characters to fill in the fear, the fury, the smug arrogance and righteous indignation of the various parties. The film leaves it to his wife (Irene Papas, who gets second billing despite mere minutes of screen time) to remind us of the personal loss behind the national outrage at his murder. The pace is steady but driving and Coast-Gavras is masterful in the way he weaves together the strands of stories and characters, especially the fascist thugs who go scurrying for cover as the investigation closes in and their alibis fall apart. The measured investigation and the panicked chaos create a riveting thriller.

Costa-Gavras combines classical storytelling with sixties New Wave possibilities and political content, and is abetted by cinematographer Raoul Coutard. Most famous for his work with nouvelle vague icon Jean-Luc Godard (he shot almost every one of Godard's film from 1959-1967), Coutard began his career as a photojournalist and had a personal interest in documentary filmmaking, and he adds a documentarian's eye and immediacy to the film. The defining music is from Mikis Theodorakis, the famed Greek composer and liberal Member of Parliament who was placed under house after the military coup. He defiantly gave Costa-Gavras permission to use his published music for the film as he saw fit, and he used it beautifully. It gives the film a sense of defiance even as the coda reminds us of the 1967 coup, essentially riding the brief victory of truth over power into outrage over the (then) political reality of Greece. The film was an international hit (except in Greece, where it was inevitably banned) for both its political content and its commercial dynamism and it won the Jury Prize at Cannes, Oscars for Best Foreign Film and Best Editing and the New York Film Critics' award for Best Film and Best Director.

Criterion's crisp new digital master is presented in its original theatrical aspect ratio of 1.66:1 (there are slight black bars along the sides of the image on widescreen monitors) and was supervised and approved by cinematographer Raoul Coutard. The DVD features well-prepared commentary by film historian Peter Cowie (who discusses details of the real-life events to show just how meticulous Costa-Gavras and screenwriting partner Jorge Semprún were in their research and writing) and revealing new video interviews with Costa-Gavras and Coutard created for this edition. There are also archival interviews with Costa-Gavras, producer-actor Jacques Perrin, actors Yves Montand, Irène Papas, and Jean-Louis Trintignant and author Vassilis Vassilikos, and an accompanying booklet featuring an essay by critic Armond White.

For more information about Z, visit The Criterion Collection. To order Z, go to TCM Shopping.
by Sean Axmaker