"Z" is a representative work of political film. The term "political film" originated from this film. As the film shocked the international film circle and achieved great commercial success as soon as it was launched, it not only made Costa-Gavras famous, but also promoted a wave of political films in the West and even the world. Of course, the rise of this upsurge is also closely related to the turbulent international situation and the historical background of intensifying various domestic contradictions. The so-called political film is not a genre, let alone a unified concept. Generally speaking, it refers to the films with a clear political tendency that swept the western film industry from the late 1960s to the mid-1970s. Such films mainly include those showing contemporary or historical political events, political movements and political events. Feature films of characters and feature films that expose some major contemporary social issues with a clear stand and attitude. Due to the different worldviews of film creators, not all such films are serious and progressive, and many are extremely "left" or reactionary. As for the "May Storm" in France in 1968, the documentary propaganda and agitation films produced by various fighting groups in France are called "battle films". Although they can also be classified into the category of political films, but Since such films are distributed in a non-commercial system and have poor artistic quality, they do not have much impact.
"Z" can achieve a sensational success, mainly depends on the following characteristics.
First, dare to expose contemporary international political scandals and lash out against the tyranny of the ruling clique. Films that expose general social problems have existed for a long time, but it is the first of "Z" that exposes major contemporary political events and directly targets the ruling class. This film, known as "the first real political film in France", is based on the real incident of the Greek United Democratic Left Party member Gorios Ramblakis being killed by the right-wing military forces on May 22, 1963. It is archetypal, and it also alludes to the complex struggle between various political forces before and after the Greek "Black Colonel" came to power in 1967. The film is a detailed description of the process of overturning the original verdict, acquitting the guilty and convicting the innocent, and The bans they issued reveal the fascist brutality of the military government.
When the Rambrakis incident was causing great indignation among many righteous people in Greece and the world, and when such a brutal fascist government was still in power, Gavras dared to tell the truth of the incident unequivocally. All the screens, pointing the edge of criticism directly at the tyrannical ruling group, naturally aroused the attention and resonance of the vast audience. The reason why the film did not use the real name and surname, but used "Z" (Z in Greek means "still alive") as the protagonist's name, and replaced Greece with "a certain country in the Mediterranean", was because the director took into account the fact that he had just come to power. The Greek military government will kill it with various excuses, but they are not to be outdone, so they put this subtitle at the beginning of the film: "If the story of this film is similar to any real thing, it is no coincidence, but intentional." No. As expected, the film was banned in Greece immediately after its release. However, the Greek authorities have been unable to interfere with its screening rights in other countries.
Secondly, this film creates a narrative style that integrates documentary and fiction, and presents real political events in the form of a detective film. Gabriel's films pay great attention to the publicity, always keeping in mind the audience's need for appreciation. In order to maintain the high degree of authenticity and credibility of this serious political event, and taking into account the audience's viewing psychology, Gavras skillfully integrates documentary and fiction organically, creating a unique political detective. Film style, that is, to narrate real political events in the form of a detective film. The film first created the suspense of a car accident, and then deepened the plot through a series of investigations conducted by the judge. With the clues provided by the witnesses, a series of flashbacks appeared in the film. As witnesses are constantly being plotted against, the plot is constantly ups and downs. A reporter's on-the-spot interview report runs through the film, which greatly enhances the documentary nature of the film. Finally, the truth is revealed, four high-ranking officials are charged, and their poor performances take the film from serious atmosphere to a farce climax. In this twisted and bizarre storyline, the director raised another political question that made the audience ponder. The style of political detective films pioneered by Gavras has not only won the audience, but has also been imitated by many directors.
A strong cast is another feature of this film. French films in the 1950s and 1960s, especially during the New Wave period, were dominated by the "author theory", the director dominated everything, and the actors rarely played their due role. It's even rarer to have a star-studded star in a Hollywood movie. In this film, Gafras used to play the main roles are French first-class actors, they have a strong attraction to the audience, and their outstanding performances greatly enhance the film.
There is a reason why Gavras, a French director of Greek origin, dared to make Z, a film that lashes out at the military government. He was born in Athens in 1933 and, at the age of 10, had been eaten with a police club in the street after his partner joked with him that he had drawn a sickle and an axe on his hat. At 18, he was turned away from the University of Athens because his father had fought against the German occupation in World War II, and was not even eligible for a driver's license. Facing the grim reality, he had no choice but to bid farewell to his native fathers and elders in 1952 to study literature at the University of Sorbonne in Paris. After that, he entered the French Film Academy for further studies, and since then he has worked as a director. In April 1967, while visiting his parents in Athens, Gavras read a novel written by the young Greek writer Vasilikos exposing the Rambrakis incident.
Gafras is a director who is good at making political films. After "Z", he has made a number of influential and controversial political films based on various international and domestic real events.
Confession (1970) is based on the memoirs of Arthur Langdon, a former Czech deputy foreign minister who fled to the West. The film describes how the politician, who had participated in the revolution as early as the 1930s, was secretly kidnapped in a purely fabricated Slansky treason case, tortured for refusing to plead guilty, and finally exhausted and his family received death threats. He was a "traitor" who did not "confess" and was not released until after the 20th National Congress of the CPSU. He fled the country after the Soviet armed invasion of the Czech Republic in 1968. The film has been attacked by film critics in the Soviet Union and some Eastern European countries.
Martial Law (1973) is based on the true events of the 1970 kidnapping and interrogation of USAID officials (actually CIA-placed “police advisors” within the Uruguayan government) by Uruguayan urban guerrillas. Santor, an instructor with the US International Police Service, came to Uruguay to assist local police and right-wing groups in suppressing the revolution. The leaders of the urban guerrillas were arrested in a major police raid. The guerrillas took their kidnapped Santor hostage and demanded the government release 150 political prisoners. When their ultimatum was ignored, they Santor was executed in an abandoned car. When Santor's casket, covered with an American flag, was being taken to the airport, another plane carrying a replacement had already landed at the airport. The film was banned in the US for exposing the CIA's subversive activities in Latin America.
"Special Court" (1975) deals with the true events of the Vicky government's cooperation with the Nazis to kill the underground workers of the French Communist Party during the fall of France. The film shows that a Nazi officer was killed by a communist in the Paris subway in 1941. Under the threat of the German army, the weak Vicky government issued an emergency decree that night, authorizing the Minister of the Interior to organize a "special court" to interrogate the six French Communists who were innocently arrested. Party members and sent three of them to the gallows. The film won the Best Director Award at the Cannes International Film Festival that year.
Disappearance (1982) shows the US involvement in the military coup in Chile. Through the personal experience of an American journalist during the coup d'etat, the film reflects the brutality of the coup group's indiscriminate killing of innocent people. They disregarded international law and did their best to insult and persecute foreign citizens. The American journalist was imprisoned for reporting the truth, but was saved from execution by the rescue of progressives. The film shows a series of activities by CIA personnel, unmistakably the mastermind behind the military coup to overthrow the pro-Soviet Allende government. At the end of the film, the US senator's remarks to the reporter played a finishing touch. The film won the Palme d'Or at the Cannes International Film Festival in the same year.
Gavras' purpose in launching this series of political films, in his own words: "To draw attention to what is happening in our politicized world. At the same time, I also propose problem, revealing the truth, so that the audience can find their own way to solve the problem.”
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