This movie was directed by world-renowned director Costa-Gavras (Missing), who fled his home country Greece; produced by well-regarded French star actor Jacques Perrin; and performed by Yves Montand—who took the world by storm as a chanson singer (“Les Feuilles Mortes” or “Autumn Leaves”)—and Jean-Louis Trintignant—who became a top actor in France from his performance in A Man and a Woman. This is the best imaginable team, and this movie Z was nominated for both the Best Picture and Best Foreign Language Film Academy Awards in 1970—an unprecedented achievement—and ended up winning the Best Foreign Language Film Award. Even now, 40 years later, the techniques have no feeling of old-fashionedness at all, and the theme of this movie still has value today.
This is a collaborative piece between France and Algeria, and the filming was done in Algeria’s capital, Algiers. The movie’s true setting is never explicitly stated, but it becomes apparent that the setting is Greece in the 1960s. Director Costa-Gavras was chased from his homeland due to his left-wing ideology. Greek beer frequently appears in the movie. The music played throughout is beautiful Greek music. The explanatory note that appears at the beginning of the movie essentially says, “Any resemblance to real persons or events is deliberate.” This is interesting because it is different than when political movies frequently use the excuse, “This is a work of fiction. Any resemblance to real persons or events is entirely coincidental.”
The story begins with an influential left-wing politician being hit in a hit-and-run after giving a speech. The investigating judge who is appointed the prosecution for the case is given the order to treat the hit-and-run accident that injured the politician as simply a drunk driving accident, and he begins his investigation from this angle; the politician dies soon after, so the judge decides to proceed with the investigation more carefully. Through the course of his investigation, he discovers a hidden scheme and receives interference from his superiors. Another key character is a journalist who also uncovers the truth of the incident as a reporter by using various methods. This is the outline of this movie. The reason this movie was a big success and it doesn’t become outdated even today is that, instead of expressing a political agenda, it focuses on the theme of what is the right thing to do as a judge, or as a reporter.
It could be said that this movie was modeled off the Greek politician Grigoris Lambrakis who was assassinated by a right-winger in 1963. Lambrakis was a doctor trained at the School of Medicine of the prestigious University of Athens. Also, as an athlete, Lambrakis was the holder of the record in long jump in Greece from 1936 to 1959, and was a champion at the international Balkan Athletic Games held between friendly neighboring nations—Greece, Yugoslavia, Bulgaria, Romania, and Turkey. He participated in the Greek Resistance during World War II, when Greece was occupied by Nazi Germany. He was not a communist, but he participated in anti-war—including anti-Vietnam War—movements as a pacifist. He was very popular among citizens as a politician who was gifted with both intelligence and athleticism, and had a great moral sense.
On May 22, 1963, on the way back from attending an anti-war assembly held in Thessaloniki as a guest speaker, Lambrakis was suddenly struck on his head with a club by a man in a sidecar of a motorcycle that came speeding from behind; five days after this injury, Lambrakis died from cerebral contusion. It became clear that this incident was a crime by the right wing. The reason it became clear it was a crime by the right wing is that Christos Sartzetakis—the investigator who happened to be in charge of this case—with the support of his superior—Attorney General P. Delaportas—publicly announced the truth, and prosecuted everyone involved, despite the pressure from military authorities and right-wing government officials. However, the two were hated by military authorities, and were fired after the military coup d’état occurred in 1967. Moreover, Sartzetakis was imprisoned after the coup d’état. He was tortured by the Greek police, and the criminals he prosecuted were released. Sartzetakis was finally released only because Greek citizens organized a strong movement that opposed his imprisonment.
When the Greek military dictatorship collapsed in 1974, Sartzetakis’s honor was restored, and he was able to later build up a career as a lawyer; he was elected as president of Greece in 1985. While Greece swayed between the right, left, and moderate factions, Sartzetaki belonged to no faction; since he was truly politically neutral, people agreed that he was the very best person to bring Greece out of the chaos.
Sartzetakis prosecuted the right wing for the murder of Lambakis without succumbing to political oppression, and since he was oppressed by military authorities, he is regarded as a hero by left-wing citizens. But to him, it was most important for him to carry out his own professional duties, and the prosecution of Lambakis’s offenders was simply the result of an investigation for the truth; Sartzetakis is not left-wing himself, and it is said that he always made it clear that he never prosecuted for the advantage of the left wing.