Z | Reelviews Movie Reviews (2025)

It’s rare that a movie can shock with its timelessness, but Z is such a film – no less relevanttoday than when Costa-Gavras made it in 1969. In his contemporaneous review,Roger Ebert said the following: “It is a film of our time. It is about how evenmoral victories are corrupted.” The following thoughts emerged from my pen in2006 when I first wrote about the production: “Despitehaving been made nearly four decades ago, the themes are as relevant today asthey were in 1969, even though the world has undergone many changes. The coreargument - how fascist elements, claiming to be ‘patriotic,’ can undermine ademocracy from within by seeking to quell ‘unpopular’ viewpoints - is a dangerthat must be guarded against as diligently in 2006 as when Z firstopened.” Considering today’s political climate, Z is proof that some things don’t change as quickly as we mighthope and that certain aspects of human nature will strive to hold back progress.

Z (the title means “He Lives”) is looselybased on facts, although Costa-Gavras elected not to use the names of theactual participants when he made the film. By using generic designators like“The Deputy”, “The General”, “The Judge”, and so forth, he is able to move thefilm out of a specific time and place and give it a universal setting. However,there’s no mistaking the historical markers that inspired it. On May 22, 1963,Greek opposition leader Gregorios Lambrakis was assassinated in an incidentmade to look like a traffic accident. The government appointed an investigatorto examine events, expecting him to rubber stamp the official story. ButChristos Sartzetakis was a man of principal and he uncovered evidence of aconspiracy that involved an ultra-right wing organization, governmentofficials, and high-ranking police officers.

When Z ends, it lookslike the forces for truth and justice will triumph…until we get to theepilogue, which echoes the historical facts from Greece where a 1967 coupresulted in a military takeover. The criminals indicted by Sartzetakis were“rehabilitated” and those who exposed the conspiracy were killed or jailed(including Sartzetakis). Eventually, Greece recovered and was set back on apath to democracy following the 1974 toppling of the dictatorship. Sartzetakis wouldeventually be elected President and served from 1985 until 1990. But all those“good” things represent footnotes to the bleak story told in Z.

The movie is effectively divided into two sections. The first focuseson the assassination of The Deputy (YvesMontand) and the second details the investigation of The Judge (Jean-LouisTrintignant) into what is initially known as “the incident” but is eventuallycalled “the murder.” Although Costa-Gavras never hides the film’s politics,this is presented as a thriller with rising tension and even a car chase (as anattempt is made on a witness’ life). Z’stheme is that of the lone good man standing against a corrupt system but, in abrutally realistic twist on the usual triumphant ending, the movie turns thetables in the closing minutes. The seemingly inevitable victory is stolen away,leaving behind emptiness, anger, and a sense that this is how the real world works. We see with double vision,looking equally at events in the 1960s and today – whenever “today” is. (Myguess is that whenever you read this, whether it’s 2018, 2025, or 2030, thiswon’t change.)

Z opens with thefollowing caption: “Any similarity to actual persons or events is deliberate.”It then illustrates how right-wing fascism has infected the supposedlydemocratic government. Liberal/left wing ideology is decried as “mildew.” TheDeputy represents everything the government despises and the opportunity to eliminatehim is ripe when he speaks at a rally for nuclear disarmament. He is warnedbeforehand that there might be an attempt on his life but, even following avicious assault, he soldiers on. Then the fatal attack occurs and his deputies(Charles Denner, Bernard Fresson) andwife (Irene Papas) are left to cope with the aftermath.

Once the focus shifts from The Deputy to the Judge, Z becomes a riveting procedural as themagistrate, with the help of a photojournalist, seeks to uncover the truth. Heinterviews witnesses and his skepticism regarding a high-level conspiracyevaporates. The use of one particular phrase by three separate witnessesconvinces him that the police have orchestrated testimonies. The Judge refusesboth the carrot (career advancement) and the stick (threats) offered byright-wing forces to end his investigation quickly with a favorable result.

Throughout his career, Costa-Gavras (born Konstantinos Gavras) has been political. Z, his third film, raised him to prominence on the internationalstage. It was a box office success, especially in many European countries, andwon Oscars for Foreign Language Film and Editing. (It was nominated, but didnot win, for Director and Picture.) A self-proclaimed communist, Costa-Gavrashad no interest in capitulating with motion picture norms (as is evident from Z’s epilogue). His filmography includesmany obscure titles alongside such recognizable ones as 1982’s Missing (with Jack Lemmon and SissySpacek), 1988’s Betrayed (written byJoe Eszterhas and starring Tom Berenger), 1989’s Music Box (another Eszterhas-penned script, this one with JessicaLange), and 1997’s Mad City (withDustin Hoffman and John Travolta).

The film’s strength today is the same as when it released:It makes a relevant political point while telling a gripping story in which thepower is concentrated in the wrong hands. The General (PierreDux), the head of police, is effective as a villain because he is always cold,calm, and rational. He believes his actions to be justified, likening himself toantibodies attacking the “ideological mildew” of “-isms.” He stands at theforefront of the populist, “antiforeign” movement that The Deputy opposes. PierreDux’s performance is noteworthy because of its restraint. The same can be saidabout Jean-Louis Trintignant, whose Judge is always composed and onlyoccasionally allows glimpses into his inner thinking. Two of Z’s biggest stars, Yves Montand andIrene Papas, have relatively small/supporting roles although The Deputy’simportance casts a long shadow.

If it was merely a conventional 1969 thriller, Z might seem dated by today’s standards.That’s more a reflection of how the genre has changed over the decades withaction scenes becoming increasingly sophisticated. Z is thick with exposition and, although it is well-paced, itexpects viewers to pay attention. Flashbacks lean heavily on the “flash” inthat many of them are little more than one or two-second cuts designed to recallan earlier scene or reinforce a characteristic.

The political element is what crystallizes Z’s timelessness and gives Costa-Gavrasthe prescience of Nostradamus. A current viewer could be forgiven thinking thiswas a new movie made using a ‘70s style to tell an allegorical tale. Z doesn’t merely stand the test of time;it transcends it. Watching it today, as was the case when I first saw it in2006, it’s an eerie, unsettling experience.

Z (Algeria/France, 1969)