Wednesday
Oct232019
How had I never seen... "Z" (1969)
Wednesday, October 23, 2019 at 3:30PM
by Mark Brinkerhoff
After finally having gotten around to seeing 1931’s M, it seemed only fitting to round it out with 1969’s Z, co-record-holder of the shortest movie title ever. Who knew that these two would have more in common than their one-word titles?
Bracingly directed by Greek-born Costa-Gavras, the Algeria-set, French-language Z is a thinly veiled version of the circumstances around the 1963 assassination of a reformist Greek politician by right-wing zealots. Both the fictional and actual events stoked social upheaval and prompted a political crisis. Factor in a shady government coverup, eventually exposed by a dogged team of investigators and journalists, and you have the makings of a thriller that is as timeless as it is unnerving...