Z (1968)

Costa-Gavras' Z was, I am sure, more immediately intelligible to its contemporary viewers (it was a hit in its time, it even won Oscars!). If you do not have that much knowledge about French politics in the 60's, or the post-war happenings in Greece, for that matter (the film seems to allude to a political murder in Greece in the beginning of the sixties), some things just get get a bit fuzzy, as they sure did to me. That is not to say I didn't enjoy the film on any level. Its constant movement from action to weepy drama to comedy is quite rare, and here, it seemed to work. The film starts with a political rally and the murder of a political leader. From the get-go, we know this was a plotted murder, a political murder. The thing is just how to tell a different story and to hide the state machinery's complicity, and so we are thrown into the intricacies of police work, the juridical system and testimonies with their own agendas. Costa-Gavras conjures up a corrupt state, where many of the police officers have other interests than looking into the true circumstances of the murder but he also includes a justice-seeking judge into the story. Camera work - very energetic.