Kino Eye: A symbol of defiance

This week I wanted to cover a film which, somehow, reflects the horrors of the Putin regime.

“Z” has oddly been taken as a pro-Putin symbol in Russia, but the 1969 film Z, by Greek director Costa-Gavras. was on very different lines.

It concerns an investigation by an unnamed magistrate into the murder of a prominent Greek Deputy (based on the Grigoris Lambrakis of the United Democratic Left, murdered in 1963). It is adapted from the novel by Vassilis Vassilikos, with music by Mikis Theodorakis (under house arrest at the time). The parallel with 1960s Greece is clear, although this is never mentioned.

The authorities claim the murder as a traffic accident (the Deputy is clubbed to death outside a political rally) but the investigating magistrate is unconvinced. Witnesses start to disappear, journalists are intimidated, threats are made and the investigation is constantly obstructed. Eventually the finger points to the right-wing opposition and a powerful elite in the army.

The murder and resulting investigation precipitate a crisis, the government resigns, and elections are called but before they can happen there is a military coup.

Z in the title refers to the Greek expression Zει, “he lives”: It became a symbol of defiance in Greece.