Repression is the rule of the day in this film that skewers Greek governance of the 1960s. Z, a leftist rabble rouser, is killed in what appears to be a traffic accident. But given the political climate, the death of such a prominent activist raises troubling questions. Though it's too late to save Z's life, a postmortem examination suggests that the ruling party was behind his death. As the facts leak out, those who tell the truth pay the price for their honesty.
Z combines the intellectual heft of revolution-themed films like The Battle of Algiers with the drop-dead cool of mod touchstones like Blow Out or Le Samourai.
– Dana Stevens,
Slate,
13 Mar 2009
fresh:
In its slick cinematic urgency and its outrage, Z still has the power to shake you up.
– Ty Burr,
Boston Globe,
23 Apr 2009
fresh:
Z, whose title is a stand-in for the Greek word zei ('he lives'), takes us back to where that fascination all began for Costa-Gavras and shows us that, for the rest of us, it hasn't ever really ended.
– Michael O'Sullivan,
Washington Post,
10 Jul 2009
fresh:
It's hard to overstate the impact that this Oscar-winning procedural thriller had in 1969, on a world roiling in political activism, repression, and discord.
– Jonathan F. Richards,
Film.com,
15 Jan 2010
fresh:
It is a great film for many reasons, not the least of which is that it can be enjoyed as a political thriller as well as a political statement.