Review of Z (1969) by Ryan D — 04 Feb 2009

Z is a French-language film about Greek politics in the early 1960s. Although the film never once makes any mention to the fact it is about Greece, it is. The opening disclaimer states "Any resemblance to real events, to persons living or dead, is not accidental. It is deliberate." The film deals with the assassination of a left-wing politician. The government tries to control things such that the death is ruled an accident thanks to falsified witnesses. The government cannot control what the hospital does and they rule that the death was not accidental. The prosecuting attorney puts together a very convincing case that it was an assassination and that the police were involved. In the end, key witnesses die under suspicious circumstances, the police are not reprimanded, and the prosecutor is removed from the case for no apparent reason.

Upon its release, this film was fairly well-regarded. It won the Academy Award for best foreign language film. It also won the Oscar for best film editing which is fairly impressive as very few foreign films have won Oscars in a category with English-language films. I found it a little dull and was not particularly impressed. There's tons of movies out there about unjust governments and this one didn't seem better than any of those.

66/100.

D+.

UP NEXT: To be determined.