Being the protagonist in the efforts to solve the murder of the MP of the Left Grigoris Lambrakis (1963), the former President of the Republic Christos Sartzetakis essentially plays a role in the novel-documentary of Vassilis Vasilikos, “Z”, a Greek symbolic book. Sartzetakis conducted the interrogation without succumbing to political pressure from the then political and judicial authorities, and brought 31 people to justice.
Written almost in parallel (in 1966) with the development of events and the trial that shocked Greece, Z was first published in the mid-1960s. “Literary reporting” or “fictional documentary of a crime” according to him Vassilis Vasilikos, moves on the boundaries between literature and journalism, with the author orchestrating the journalistic and pre-investigative material of the Lambraki case.
Z (intention to sound Zei) was adapted into a film by Costa Gavra, produced in 1969, on the subject of the murder of Grigoris Lambrakis, and the search for the culprits by the investigator, essentially the later President of the Hellenic Republic.
The screenplay, adaptation of the novel of the same name by Vasilikos, was signed by the Spanish author Jorge Sembrun, who later became Minister of Culture of Spain. The intention of the creators was for the “Z” of the title to be pronounced “Zei” and not “zita”, as they wanted to express the verb that was heard in the demonstrations that took place when the MP was killed – “Lambraki, you live, you lead us” and “Zei” “He lives, he lives”.
His brother Costas Gavras had served in the army with the writer Vassilis Vasilikos and they were friends. When he read Vasilikos’ G about the Lambraki case, he immediately suggested it to his brother. He saw it positively, but did not rush to implement it. However, when the colonels’s coup took place in April 1967, Gavras immediately decided to make the film. The film is in French, while the shooting took place in Algeria (the then socialist Algerian government of FLN willingly helped with the shooting) and stars mainly French actors, with some exceptions (such as the Greek Irini Pappas).
The film had some minor differences in plot as compared to the book and reality, but some scenes is the actual transfer of events, with the main example being the opening scene of the film with the speeches of the Deputy Minister of Agriculture and the General of the Gendarmerie: this scene is almost a literal metaphor of the speech of the Deputy Minister of Agriculture, Panagiotis Stavropoulos, and the Inspector General of the Gendarmerie, Konstantinos at noon on May 22, 1963 at the then Ministry of Northern Greece (Thessaloniki Governor’s Office), a few hours before the assassination of Lambraki.
The film does not clearly state that it concerns Greece, but this is evident from various Greek elements. It begins with a passionate Gendarmerie General representing the right-wing government lashing out at the authorities’ decision to crack down on the Communists, and then points to a pacifist scientist and MP, Yves Montand, to prepare an opposition rally in which he would talk about nuclear disarmament. The organization of this event stumbles on a number of obstacles. Eventually it is organized and the pacifist MP makes his speech, but a few hours later he succumbs to the blows he receives from parastatals outside the venue of the event.
In the film, the attack takes place in front of the eyes of the police, who do not intervene to arrest the perpetrators, and they leave in their car, after one of them hits the MP in the head with a crowbar. Authorities are pressuring witnesses to testify that it was a car accident and that the driver of the vehicle was drunk. However, a forensic autopsy is performed and it is certified that the death was not caused by a car accident. The investigator examining the case (Jean-Louis Trentinianessentially Christos Sartzetakis) with the help of a photojournalist (Jacques Perrin) reveal that the murder was committed by two men and find evidence that incriminates four officers of the gendarmerie. However the government tries to cover up the case, takes the file from the investigator, who seemed determined to call the MP’s death a murder, and eyewitnesses disappear or are killed under unclear and suspicious circumstances. The perpetrators are sentenced to relatively light sentences for their crime. Gendarmerie officers receive mostly administrative sentences, Grigoris Lambrakis’s close associates are deported or die, and the photojournalist is jailed on charges of leaking confidential information to the public.
Before the end titles begin to fall, Gavras shows a list of what the junta has imposed that was imposed on Greece a few years after Lambrakis’s death. Among them are the peace movements, the strikes, the formation of trade unions, the long hair on men, the music of the Beatles, Leon Tolstoy, Ionesco, Jean-Paul Sartre, the free press, but also the letter “Zita” which reminds Lambrakis.
The music of the movie Z was composed by Mikis Theodorakis. In 1970, for the music in his film, he was awarded the BAFTA Prize for Original Music.
– wikipedia
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