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| Zorba the Greek | |
|---|---|
 original movie poster |
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| Directed by | Michael Cacoyannis |
| Produced by | Michael Cacoyannis Anthony Quinn |
| Written by | Michael Cacoyannis, Nikos Kazantzakis (Novel) |
| Starring | Anthony Quinn Alan Bates Irene Papas Lila Kedrova Sotiris Moustakas Anna Kyriakou |
| Music by | Mikis Theodorakis |
| Release date(s) | 1964 |
| Running time | 142 min. |
| Language | English, Greek |
| IMDb | |
| Ratings | |
| Argentina | 13 |
|---|---|
| Australia | PG |
| Canada (Ontario) | R |
| Canada (Manitoba) | PA |
| Canada (Maritime) | R |
| Canada (Quebec) | 13 ans + |
| Canada (Home Video)) | 18A |
| Finland | K-16 |
| Iceland | 12 |
| Norway | 15 |
| Spain | 18 |
| Sweden | 15 |
| United Kingdom | X (theatrical) PG (video) |
| United States | Approved |
Zorba the Greek (originally titled Alexis Zorbas) is a 1964 film based on the novel Zorba the Greek by Nikos Kazantzakis. The film was directed by Michael Cacoyannis and the title character was played by Anthony Quinn. The supporting cast included Alan Bates as a visiting Englishman. The theme, "Sirtaki" by Mikis Theodorakis, has become famous and popular as a song and as a dance (especially at parties). Several of the film's songs & instrumental pieces, with wise, poetic sayings from Zorba, gained cult status for the recorded & widely-released soundtrack.
The movie was shot on location on the Greek island of Crete. Specific places featured include the town of Chania, the Apokoronas region and the Akrotiri peninsula. The famous scene, in which Quinn's character dances the Sirtaki, was shot on the beach of the village of Stavros ().
The movie won three Academy Awards. 1 Lila Kedrova won the Oscar for Best Supporting Actress, Vassilis Fotopoulos won the Oscar for Best Art Direction in black-and-white set decoration, and Walter Lassally won the Oscar for Best Cinematography in black-and-white. Lassally's Oscar is shown in Tavern Christiana in Stavros.
Quinn received the nomination for best actor in a leading role and Michael Cacoyannis received three nominations for Best Picture, Best Director, and Best Writing, and Screenplay Based on Material from Another Medium.
Actor Sotiris Moustakas was almost nominated for Best Supporting Actor but was rejected due to his limited screen time. In Greece the actor is praised for his performance as the town fool.
Contents |
Plot
Basil (Alan Bates), a young English writer, meets a free-spirited Greek peasant named Zorba (Anthony Quinn) while waiting to travel to the island of Crete. While Zorba pursues a relationship with aging French courtesan Madame Hortense (Lila Kedrova, who won an Oscar for her role), he encourages a reluctant Basil to court a young widow. Along the way, Basil learns valuable life lessons from the earthy Zorba, who has an unquenchable joie de vivre.
Plot Summary
Basil (Alan Bates) is a half-English half-Greek writer who has been raised in Britain and bears all the hallmarks of an uptight, middle class English gentlemen. He is waiting at a port in mainland Greece one day when he meets a gruff, yet enthusiastic peasant and musician named Zorba (Anthony Quinn). Basil explains to Zorba that he is traveling to a rural Cretan village where his father owns some land, with the intention of opening up a lignite mine and perhaps curing his writer's block. Zorba relates his experience with mining and convinces Basil to take him along.
When they arrive at Crete, they take a car to the village where they are greeted enthusiastically by the town's impoverished peasant community. They stay with an old, French war widow named Madame Hortense (Lila Kedrova) in her self-styled "Hotel Ritz". The ever audacious Zorba tries to coerce Basil into making a move on Madame Hortense, but when he is reluctant, Zorba instead seizes the opportunity, and they form a relationship.
Over the next few days, Basil and Zorba attempt to work the old lignite mine, but find it too unsafe and shut it down. Zorba then has an idea to use the forest opposite as a kind of logging area (although what his actual plan is is left ambiguous), however the land is owned by the powerful monastery of the village, so Zorba goes over there and befriends the monks by getting them drunk. Afterword, he comes home to Basil and begins to dance in a way that mesmerizes him.
Meanwhile, Basil and Zorba get their first introduction to "the Widow" (Irene Papas), a young, widowed woman, who is incessantly teased by the townspeople for not remarrying, especially to a young, local boy who is madly love with her, but who has been spurned by her repeatedly. During one rainy afternoon, Basil offers her his umbrella, and she reluctantly takes it. Zorba suggests that she is attracted to him, but Basil, ever frigid, denies this and says he wont pursue her.
Basil sends Zorba off with some money to the main town to buy cable and other supplies to enact his grand plan for the forest. Zorba then says goodbye to Basil and Madame Hortense, who is now madly in love with Zorba. While in the town, Zorba entertains himself at a cabaret and strikes up a romance with a much younger dancer. He then sends a letter back to Basil indicating that he has found love with her. When Basil reads it, he becomes very angry. He then lies to Madame Hortense and tells her that Zorba intends to marry her when he returns - to which she is ecstatic to the point of tears. Meanwhile, the Widow has sent Basil's umbrella back by way of Mimithos (Sotiris Moustakas), the simple-minded town fool.
Zorba eventually returns with the supplies and is shocked to hear from Basil that he insinuated that he would marry Madame Hortense. Nevertheless, he plays along and conjures up visions of white satin wedding dresses, lined with pearls, to keep Madame Hortense happy and not hurt her feelings. Shocked at this, Basil gets drunk one night and wanders over to the Widow's house, where he makes love to her. This event is caught sight of by a local villager, and word spreads, until the young, local boy who is in love with the Widow is taunted mercilessly about it. The next day, the villagers find his body by the sea, having drowned himself out of shame.
The father holds a funeral to which all the villagers attend. The Widow attempts to come inconspicuously, but is blocked from entering the church. She is eventually circled in the courtyard, where she is beaten by the villagers, who hold her responsible for the young boy's suicide. Basil, fearing that he can not intervene, tells a young boy to go get Zorba. Zorba arrives just as the father is pulling out a knife to kill the Widow and stops it. Thinking he has ceased the violent activity, he turns around and tells the Widow to follow him. However, as his back is turned, the father pulls out the knife and slits the Widow's throat. She dies instantly, and as the villagers shuffle away apathetically, only Basil, Zorba and Mimithos seem to show any emotion for her death.
A while later, we find Madame Hortense on her deathbed, having apparently contracted pneumonia. Zorba stays by her side, along with Basil. Meanwhile, word gets round that "the foreigner" is dying, and that since she has no heirs, the State will take all her possessions and money. The villagers crowd round her house, impatiently waiting for her death so they can steal her belongings. Two old ladies enter her room and gaze expectantly at her, hoping to get first hands on all her belongings. As she passes away, her house is raided and ransacked by the villagers, who strip it bare.
Finally, Zorba's elaborate contraption to ferry wood from the hill is complete, and all the villagers have turned out to see it. It is blessed by the priests, and Zorba gives the signal to start it. A log comes hurtling down the zip line and a worrying pace, and it ends up slightly damaging part of the contraption. Zorba is unfazed and orders another log to come down. This log also comes down at a blistering pace and shoots straight into the sea. Zorba is still unfazed and orders a third log, which comes down and brings the contraption hurtling to the ground, destroying everything they had worked for. The villagers flee and only Basil and Zorba are left. Zorba invites Basil to try some lamb and they eat out on the beach. Basil then asks Zorba to teach him how to dance, and they dance away on the sand.
Popular culture
The medley played throughout the film is well known in popular culture. A short film made in Scotland in 1999, Billy and Zorba is about a man who believes he is Zorba the Greek. Zorba the Greek was also adapted into a 1968 Broadway musical named Zorba. Boston Pizza serves a variety of pizza named "Zorba, the Greek" their version of Greek pizza.
See also
- "Zorbas," the theme songs of the movie by Greek composer Mikis Theodorakis
- Alexis Zorbas, ballet by Greek composer Mikis Theodorakis written in 1988, and premiered in Arena di Verona in Verona, Italy
References
- ^ "NY Times: Zorba the Greek". NY Times. Retrieved on 2008-12-25.
External links
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Wikipedia content modification information:
- This page was last modified on 28 December 2008, at 13:43.
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