Zorba the Greek
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Movie Reviews of Zorba the Greek
Movie Review: tragedy, comedy, the hilarious sad business of life.
Summary: 5 Stars
I first saw Zorba when it was released (1962?) I was so young, 18 or so, I didn't quite understand it but it had a powerful emotional impact. A few years later I read the novel and loved it so much that I then read it twice a year for about 10 years, then once a year after that (so I've read it about 30 times). My opinion of the movie dropped during the reading years because the movie only got about a third of the magic of the novel. Later I watched the film again and fell into love with it, a profound work in its own right. Film doesn't have all the fascinating detail and stories of the novel but does capture the LIFE, the struggle, the wonderful character of Zorba and many of the secondary characters. The movie is so much superior to most Hollywood movies, so character driven, so thoughtful, spiritual and deep as to make it hard to 'get into' right away. I would guess that young people today would have a really hard time enjoying it because it is antithetical to MySpace iPod cell phone culture, ie the "culture" of no-thought, music video, shallowness. It would be most interesting to screen Zorba for a group of 50 or 100 young college students and high school students and then survey their reactions. I would like to think that the simple power and Truth of Zorba would make a deep impression on them but I don't know. All I know is that Zorba (who was a real man that author Kazantzakis met and lived with for some 6 months) should have lived a thousand years, just as Zorba said, and I'd hope that there is still some real hunger for meaning in people that would make them fall in love in Zorba the movie and Zorba the novel.Movie Review: A Wonderful Film About Life: A Classic!
Summary: 5 Stars
"Zorba the Greek" is one of the first of the great films I remember watching as a young boy. Even as far back as 1964, there was a magical appeal to the film for me. And now that I am much older, I appreciate the film even more. I never tire of viewing Zorba, and the director, Michael Cacoyannis did an excellent job not only with the character development of Zorba (Anthony Quinn) but Alan Bates as well.
Moreover, the stunning and beautiful cinematography enhances the films appeal. And the decision to use black and white instead of color was a great decision. For some reason, the black and white gives the film something [I am not quite sure what] of an added and luring sense that color could never have given the film. Seeing Alan Bates' portrayal as the bookish and uptight Englishman sent to inherit his fathers mine, contrasted brilliantly with the 'Full of Life' and wisened character of Zorba.
The entire film is a lesson in life. A lesson at least for a young man (Bates) who comes to see the zest which Zorba exhuberates [even in the most difficult times] as a much needed respite from his own uptight and rigid belief's. The film works at every level, and it is the greatest [to me anyway] film or both Bates and Quinn's career. They are both gone now, however, they remain on the screen forever. And who can forget the ending, with the wonderfully scripted words of Zorba to Bates: "Boss, of all the men I have ever known, I have loved you the most." Excellent film, and the highest recommendation. [Stars: 5+]
Movie Review: ZORBA THE GREEK is a terrific adaptation of the novel
Summary: 5 Stars
This terrific 1964 film has finally come out on DVD. It's been worth the wait. Lovingly produced, directed and adapted by Michael Cacoyannis (check out his 1999 film of The Cherry Orchard, with Charlotte Rampling and Alan Bates, to see how versatile this director really is), Zorba is a kind of Never on Sunday story about a free spirit (Anthony Quinn's Zorba) paired with an uptight Englishman (Alan Bates's Basil). They cross paths on Crete, and there the story unfolds. The stars of this film are many: the excellent adaptation by Cacoyannis; the hard-to-forget music by Mikis Theodorakis (available, thank goodness, on CD); Crete as backdrop to the story; the Academy Award-winning black and white cinematography, black and white art direction/set decoration; and, Quinn, Bates, Irene Papas and Lila Kedrova (Best Supporting Actress winner), all superb in their roles. At nearly two-and-a-half hours, the film holds your attention because of all the aforementioned ingredients. I had the pleasure of seeing Quinn and Kedrova on stage in the musical adaptation (Zorba) that toured for a while in the 80's, and while I enjoyed it a lot, I couldn't help but think of how musical the film was in all regards, and how the addition of Broadway-style tunes pulled focus from the simple power of the story, which was so effectively captured by Cacoyannis and his cast. If I had to run out of a burning building with only a small bagfull of films, Zorba the Greek would surely be one of them. It's unique and ultimately unforgettable.
Movie Review: Since I've been trashing the studio...
Summary: 5 Stars
... when this movie was announced the first time as being in full-screen format, which would have been more than a shame, I feel an obligation to correct both my former review and M. Harstein's review. Maybe he did get some other DVD edition I'm not aware of, but the one I just received from Amazon is a perfect 1.85 : 1 ratio; and, as well, a very good transfer. There is only a very short time, 2/3 sec., when starting the playing and before the movie starts, with the 20th c's logo in color and full-screen.
Is this answer satisfying for M. Hartstein?
I'm not sure if my first review and some others in the same line helped the studio to abandon the full-screen lunacy (I can't imagine why original formats are not the default for ALL DVDs, since the butchering of the widescreen is not "fitting" my screen, it's defacing it and disgracing it) or if the information at this time was not accurate: yet the logo before the start of the movie makes me think they really intended a butchered edition. But as soon as the info was showing it would respect the widescreen format I did order it, and now I'm glad I did.
Maybe Amazon who already "let the studio know how many customers are waiting for this title" could also provide the studios with
some feed-back about how many customers are not the least interested in buying DVDs which are only a part of the original movie (if the original ratio is 2.35, cutting to 1.33 will give you only a little bit more than half of it - exactly 56%).
Movie Review: Probably the greatest film of all time
Summary: 5 Stars
This wonderful film has never become dated. It is a catalogue of superlatives -- an outstanding film score (and indeed soundtrack), an outstanding cast (Alan Bates and Irene Papas were probably the two most beautiful people in the world at that time and Anthony Quinn was certainly the most charismatic actor), a stunning screenplay by Michael Cacoyannis, extraordinary sets and settings, superb photography and above all, a vivid sense of the pathetic and the ridiculous make this a film that you should watch. You won't regret it.
The film has a few flaws. The cinema is a medium in which dozens of characters can gleam and live for a few minutes or seconds at a time, as Fellini showed us. Despite the profound human intimacy achieved among the principal characters, the lives of the islanders are not penetrated and their depiction as cruel, rapacious and ignorant can hardly have been atoned for by Cacoyannis's dedication of the movie "to the people of Crete." As in an ancient Greek drama, the cast is starkly divided into chorus and a handful of characters. More could have been achieved.
All in all, however, this was a dazzling moment in which Quinn, Cacoyannis, Bates, Papas, Kedrova, Theodorakis and others reached the apotheosis of their careers.
None of these great artists ever surpassed this glorious performance.
Highly recommended.