CULTURAL SUMMER 2023

Wednesday, July 19, 2021 - 9.30 p.m.

The CULTURAL SOCIETY LONGOS in cooperation with the DI.KE.PA and the FILMCLUB Egio organized a film screenig of the film "Z" on Wednesday, July 19, in the summer cinema of the Longos Cultural Centre. ADMISSION FREE

The Thairos-Film-Festival continues its journey and makes a stop where it started in the summer of 2017. The film "Z" by Kostas Gavras will be screened at the always hospitable cinema of Longos in collaboration with the CULTURAL SOCIETY LONGOS "Lord Byron" on Wednesday 19 July at 9.00 p.m.

"Z" (1969) Z is a 1969 political thriller film directed by Costa-Gavras, from a screenplay he co-wrote with Jorge Semprún, adapted from the 1967 novel of the same name by Vassilis Vassilikos. The film presents a thinly-fictionalized account of the events surrounding the assassination of the democratic Greek politician Grigoris Lambrakis in 1963. With its dark view of Greek politics and its downbeat ending, the film captures the director's outrage about the junta that then ruled Greece. The title refers to a popular Greek protest slogan (Greek: Ζει, IPA: [ˈzi]) meaning "he lives," in reference to Lambrakis. A French and Algerian co-production, the film stars Jean-Louis Trintignant as the investigating magistrate, an analogue of Christos Sartzetakis, who would become the Greek president from 1985 to 1990. International stars Yves Montand and Irene Papas also appear, but despite their star billing, they have very little screen time. Jacques Perrin, who also produced the film, plays a key role as a photojournalist. Other actors in the film include Pierre Dux, Charles Denner, François Périer, Georges Géret and Bernard Fresson. The musical score was composed by Mikis Theodorakis. Z was the first film and one of only a handful to be nominated by the Academy Awards for both Best Picture and Best Foreign Language Film. It won the latter as well as the Jury Prize at the Cannes Film Festival, the BAFTA Award for Best Film Music and the Golden Globe Award for Best Foreign Film. At the 27th Golden Globe Awards, its producers refused the award to protest the film's exclusion from the Best Motion Picture – Drama category. Plot The film centers on the right-wing, military-dominated government of an unnamed Mediterranean state (based on Greece). The story begins with the closing moments of a rather dull government lecture on agricultural policy until the leader of the security police takes over the podium for an impassioned speech describing the government's program to combat leftism by using the metaphors "a mildew of the mind", an infiltration of "isms" and "sunspots". The scene shifts to preparations for a political rally of the opposition faction in which the left-leaning, pacifist deputy is to give a speech advocating nuclear disarmament. There have been attempts by the government to prevent the speech from being delivered. The venue has been changed to a much smaller hall, logistical problems have appeared out of nowhere and the people handing out leaflets about the change of venue are attacked by thugs under the command of the police. On his way to the venue, the deputy is hit on the head by one of the right-wing anticommunist protestors, some of whom are sponsored by the government, but carries on with his sharp speech. As the deputy crosses the street from the hall after giving his speech, a delivery truck speeds past him, and a man on the open truck bed strikes him down with a club. The injury eventually proves fatal, and the police manipulate witnesses to force the conclusion that the deputy was simply run over by a drunk driver. However, the police do not control the hospital, where the autopsy disproves their interpretation. The examining magistrate, with the assistance of a photojournalist, now uncovers sufficient evidence to indict not only the two right-wing militants who committed the murder but also four high-ranking military police officers. The action of the film concludes with one of the deputy's associates rushing to see his widow to give her the surprising news of the officers' indictments. The widow looks distressed and appears not to believe things will change for the better. An epilogue provides a synopsis of the subsequent turns of events. Instead of justice being served, the prosecutor is mysteriously removed from the case, several key witnesses die under suspicious circumstances, the assassins receive relatively short sentences, the officers receive only administrative reprimands, the deputy's close associates die or are deported and the photojournalist is sent to prison for disclosing official documents. The heads of the government resign after public disapproval, but before elections are carried out, a coup d'état occurs, and the military seize power. They ban modern art, popular music, avant-garde novelists, modern mathematics, classic and modern philosophers and the use of the term "Ζ" (Greek: zíta, or Greek: zi, which is used by protesters against the former government), which refers to the deputy and means "He lives." Cast     Jean-Louis Trintignant as The Examining Magistrate (based on Christos Sartzetakis)     Yves Montand as The Deputy (Grigoris Lambrakis)     Irene Papas as Helene (Roula Lambrakis – his wife)     Pierre Dux as The General (Konstantinos Mitsou)     Jacques Perrin as Photojournalist (composite character, partly based on Giorgos Bertsos)     Charles Denner as Manuel     François Périer as The Public Prosecutor     Georges Géret as Nick     Bernard Fresson as Matt     Marcel Bozzuffi as Vago (Emmanouel Emmannouilidis – man who struck Lambrakis)     Julien Guiomar as The Colonel (Efthimios Kamoutsis)     Magali Noël as Nick's sister     Renato Salvatori as Yago (Spyro Gotzamanis – the driver)     Clotilde Joanno as Shoula     Maurice Baquet as The Mason (Manolis Hatziapostolou)     Gérard Darrieu as Barone     Jean Bouise as Georges Pirou     Jean-Pierre Miquel as Pierre     Van Doude as The Hospital Director     Jean Dasté as Ilya Coste     Jean-François Gobbi as Jimmy, the boxer     Guy Mairesse as Dumas     Andrée Tainsy as Nick's mother     Eva Simonet as Niki     Hassan El-Hassani as a military officer     Sid Ahmed Agoumi as The General's driver