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Z

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Z (1969)

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Reviews Counted:31

Fresh:28

Rotten:3

Average Rating:8/10

Consensus: Powerfully effective, this anti-fascist political thriller stands out as both high-conscience melodrama and high-tempo action movie.

Rated: PG

Runtime: 2 hrs 8 mins

Genre: Foreign Films

Theatrical Release:Mar 13, 2009 Limited

Synopsis: "Z" is a classic Cold-War political thriller, based on a true story. It concerns the assassination of Zei, a popular pacifist and anti-nuclear leader. The aftermath of the incident reveals a deeper... "Z" is a classic Cold-War political thriller, based on a true story. It concerns the assassination of Zei, a popular pacifist and anti-nuclear leader. The aftermath of the incident reveals a deeper government conspiracy with the subsequent fallout. [More]

Starring: Yves Montand, Irene Papas, Jean-Louis Trintignant

Starring: Yves Montand, Irene Papas, Jean-Louis Trintignant

Director: Costa Gavras

Director: Costa Gavras
Studio: Rialto Pictures

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Release:

Jan 14, 1998

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Reviews for Z

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1 - 20 (sorted by date)
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a relentlessly fast-paced political expose that has not a single wasted second

Full Review Source: Q Network Film Desk | comment Comment
10/28/09
James Kendrick
James Kendrick
Q Network Film Desk

It's still an eye-catching, fast-paced watch.

Full Review Source: Slant Magazine | comment Comment
10/26/09
Bill Weber
Bill Weber
Slant Magazine

The cyclonic drive is all heat and outrage

Full Review Source: CinePassion | comment Comment
09/25/09
Fernando F. Croce
Fernando F. Croce
CinePassion

Its mere existence is testimony to the fact that no matter how hard those in power struggle to conceal their misdeeds, truth will eventually win out.

Full Review Source: Oregonian | comment Comment
08/28/09
Marc Mohan
Marc Mohan
Oregonian

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.

Full Review Source: Washington Post | comment Comment
07/10/09
Michael O'Sullivan
Michael O'Sullivan
Washington Post
Top Critic Icon Top Critic

In its slick cinematic urgency and its outrage, Z still has the power to shake you up.

Full Review Source: Boston Globe | comment Comment
04/23/09
Ty Burr
Ty Burr
Boston Globe
Top Critic Icon Top Critic

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 Samouraï.

Full Review Source: Slate | comment Comment
03/13/09
Dana Stevens
Dana Stevens
Slate

Mikis Theodorakis provides a stirring musical score of traditional Greek music.

Full Review Source: Ozus' World Movie Reviews | comment Comment
03/13/09
Dennis Schwartz
Dennis Schwartz
Ozus' World Movie Reviews

This concession to cheap psychological realism still manages to stand out and stick in the craw.

Full Review Source: Time Out New York | comment Comment
03/11/09
Keith Uhlich
Keith Uhlich
Time Out New York

Years later, Costa-Gavras’ shrewd contrivance and superb form hold up impressively.

Full Review Source: New York Press | comment Comment
03/11/09
Armond White
Armond White
New York Press

Fascism has been driven underground, but a dose of Costa-Gavra's electrifyingly brutal 1969 political thriller Z will rattle you all the same.

Full Review Source: New York Magazine | comment Comment
03/11/09
David Edelstein
David Edelstein
New York Magazine
Top Critic Icon Top Critic

Forty years later, Z remains one of the most thrilling and urgent political thrillers ever made, a model for socially-conscious melodramas (and Costa-Gavras best picture).

Full Review Source: EmanuelLevy.Com | comment Comment
03/11/09
Emanuel Levy
Emanuel Levy
EmanuelLevy.Com

The military junta that ensued in Greece gave the film a sense of urgency approved by Cannes and Oscar alike.

Full Review Source: Village Voice | comment Comment
03/10/09
Nicolas Rapold
Nicolas Rapold
Village Voice
Top Critic Icon Top Critic

This movie is for those who prefer for there to be meat on a screenplay's skeleton and who don't demand far-fetched conspiracy theories that play fast and loose with the facts.

Full Review Source: ReelViews | comment Comment
02/20/08
James Berardinelli
James Berardinelli
ReelViews
Top Critic Icon Top Critic

A chilling, manipulative rollercoaster ride.

Full Review Source: TV Guide's Movie Guide | comment Comment
02/20/08
TV Guide's Movie Guide

A punchy political pic [from the novel by Vassilis Vassilikos] that mixes action, violence, and conspiracy on a robust, lavish scale.

Full Review Source: Variety | comment Comment
02/20/08
Variety Staff
Variety Staff
Variety
Top Critic Icon Top Critic

The recreation of the murder and the subsequent investigation uses the techniques of an American thriller to gripping effect, though conspiracies are so commonplace nowadays that it's hard to imagine the impact it made at the time.

Full Review Source: Time Out | comment Comment
06/24/06
Time Out

Way ahead of the curve.

comment Comment
10/10/05
Cole Smithey
Cole Smithey
ColeSmithey.com

No review available.

comment Comment
04/07/05
Andy Klein
Andy Klein
Los Angeles CityBeat

No review available.

comment Comment
01/29/05
Philip Martin
Philip Martin
Arkansas Democrat-Gazette
 
 
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