User Reviews

I just saw Zorba again today on TCM, 40 years after first seeing it as a young teenager. I was again entranced by the characters and the cinematography. In fact, I had forgotten that it was shot in black and white but imagined it had been shot in vibrant color! I also have read the novel, and while there is of course more detail and perhaps more depth in it, the movie is one of the best adaptations of a book I have ever seen. I feel I must take issue with some reviewers who watched this movie through the lenses of 2006 and evidently did not understand the world described in Zorba. First of all, even though the movie was shot in 1964, it takes place in the 20's from the look of the cars, etc. The people and events on the island of Crete thus are what we, today, might see as "primitive" but nevertheless that was how things worked at that time and in that place. To label him "Zorba the Creep" is cute but only shows that reviewer's lack of historical understanding and possibly her lack of travel. A woman's place was indeed ruled by men and tribal justice was swift and often cruel. Therefore the movie may have seemed "depressing, misogynistic and unpleasant" to you. Zorba was not a perfect person; he could be mean as well as kind. But he had also experienced a lot in life, including going to war and the death of his young son, and he had learned how to pick himself up and go on despite great hardships. Thus Zorba embodied an instinctive and life-affirming principle never before seen by the uptight Englishman and this was something that moved and changed him, even if he also was not perfect and did not react as we would have expected him to act today. The movie does not glorify or justify what happens but simply presents the facts and lets us draw our own lessons from them. Moreover, the comment "Threadbare plot and tiresome stereotypes abound in this movie...The story is sluggishly paced and rather tedious, without a single line of fresh, original dialogue" really shows this reviewer's total lack of knowledge of film history. Rather than being "Quinn's usual schtick," this was the origination of a character that he then went on to play, perhaps overplay, in many subsequent movies. The dialogue is so beautiful that it has been copied to the degree that these reviewers found it derivative, rather than realizing this movie is the template for the others that followed!! Lastly, the novel and the screenplay were written by Greeks, and the director was Greek. Therefore I hardly think they were being condescending or "laying on the local color" too thickly. These scenes and events had deep significance for them and from the tenor of the majority of reviews, it meant something to others as well. Maybe it's that there can be beauty in life even though there is also great injustice; that some people can be tolerant to some degree; that there are moments that call for something non-analytical like dancing in order to express the mix and chaos of our emotions.... One of the greatest things in this movie as I watched it for the second time was the moments of silence; the lack of music bombastically intruding on the love scene; the many communications carried by a look and no words. WHAT A GEM!!

"Zorba the Greek" is not only Michael Cacoyannis' best known work by far, it probably is the most famous Greek movie ever, even more than any of Theo Angelopoulos' films (arguably the most prominent Greek director, considering that Costa-Gavras mainly directed "international" pictures).

It is based on Nikos Kazantzakis' masterpiece. Despite the immense reputation of both the novel and its author, the movie is even more renowned than the book, thanks to the Greek folklore it exhibits, Mikis Theodorakis' alluring soundtrack and Anthony Quinn's performance. Just have a look how many Greek restaurants are called "Zorba" in any part of the world...

A POSTCARD GREECE?

The title of the original novel is "Life and Times of Alexis Zorbas". The movie's title insists on the "Greek" aspect of the main character and hence his environment. Does it mean it constitutes a postcard view of Greece, as it is sometimes considered? To some extent, it appears full of clichés: sun, sea, beach, white village, typical costumes, music, dance, traditions. The place looks like a paradise:

• It is almost always sunny while on the continent at the beginning it is raining.
• Villagers are welcoming to Zorba and Basil.
• We rarely see anything from the outside world, even from the rest of Crete.
• Nobody worries about having food or shelter.
• The final fiasco of the mine opening is taken lightly. It ends with Zorba and Basil dancing Sirtaki on the beach, a traditional Greek dance that was adapted for the movie. By comparison, the novel's story continues after that scene, with a bitter tone: the narrator's closest friend (Stavridakis) dies; the narrator goes away; after a few years he loses contact with Zorba; the latter eventually dies; he bequeaths his cherished instrument (the santuri) to the narrator. In the movie, Basil says he will leave but we do not see it.

Insisting on Greek folklore is a deliberate choice since it is only partly present in the novel, and then with greater distance. It is somewhat intended to seduce international audiences: most dialogues are in English (because Basil is an Englishman) whilst in the novel they naturally are in Greek; the four main actors are celebrities and three of them (excluding Irene Papas) are not Greek.

However this seducing aspect is only apparent: the movie also adopts the pessimistic view of the novel, written in the midst of World War II and published in 1946. Beneath the surface, the cruelty of human condition and mankind is revealed.

• The villagers are poor.
• The village idiot is a sad figure.
• The young boy commits suicide.
• The widow is savagely murdered.
• Madame Hortense's mourners are hypocrites. Her house is looted just after she dies.
• Zorba's comments about people are bleak.
• Even children are heartless.

Cinematography, with its sharp black and white, illustrates this two-sided vision (easy-going impression versus harsh reality): the bright landscapes and village intensely contrasts with dark costumes and shadows. The effect is striking after the grey tones of the beginning on the continent. Also, in opposition to frequent plain views, some shots emphasise oppression: for instance image is saturated with people when the widow is lapidated.

REDUCED DEPTH

Nonetheless, despite its ambition, the movie lacks the novel's philosophical depth. There are many penetrating thoughts in the book, about life, death, soul, love, mankind, religion, history, art, etc. The narrator articulates them intellectually; Zorba voices them in a basic yet astute way. This generates another dimension: the narrator's transformation. The latter is smart, but Zorba understands more about life than he does: he is close to people, nature, beauty; he teaches him to be in contact with his emotions instead of with his brain, to enjoy life, to give everything he has got. There is an "external" Zorba, simple and lively, and an "internal" Zorba with a compelling insight: he is a witty fool while the narrator is a foolish wit, as Shakespeare would have said. The narrator, who is intellectually trying to find the path of the Buddha, emotionally finds it by his experience with Zorba. Eventually, after finishing his book about Buddha, he logically writes Zorba's biography.

All of this is mostly missing in the movie. Granted, it is not easy to transcribe ideas on screen: a constant voice over would be tedious after a while. However thoughtful dialogues are limited; we do not see Basil's transformation; Zorba remains simple without much depth. Concerning the last point, the responsibility is partly the director's, partly Antony Quinn's who overacts the exuberant side of his role. With limited interesting lines, he still could have shown the "internal" Zorba, by being for instance more mysterious and meditative, instead of fully tilting towards the "external" Zorba. Quinn's performance is generally deemed outstanding, yet it is only so regarding one part of his character: he seems to miss the full potential of the role and its link with the overall far-reaching message. Lila Kerdova's performance as Madame Hortense, for instance, is more to the point.

Finally, there is some humour in the movie, but not to the extent of the novel where wit frequently mixes with the above-mentioned philosophy. In summary, if "Zorba the Greek" is not as penetrating as the novel, it goes deeper than a postcard view of Greece and remains a valuable piece of art, full of contrasts: white and black, exuberant and intriguing, amusing and tragic.

A built-in defect of this film adaption from the source novel ALEXIS ZORBAS by Nikos Kazantzakis is its utterly invidious treatment of its female characters, indisputably it was more acceptable in a male-chauvinistic backwater when it was released in the 60s (a 7 Oscar- nominations including BEST PICTURE, DIRECTOR, LEADING ACTOR for Quiin and SCREENPLAY with 3 wins), but it sheerly renders its modern-day audience a mouthful taste of misogyny and xenophobia, to which director Kakogiannis uncompromisingly adhere.

What makes me more ill-at-ease is the egregious nonchalance projected afterward by their male counterparts, after the shocking demise of the widow (Papas, the author even doesn't bother to give her a name), our young half-Greek-half-British protagonist Basil (Bates) has no remorse of his inadvertent complicity in it and never even care to contest on her behalf; as for the forlorn Madame Hortense (Kedrova in her Oscar-crowning role), her beloved "husband" Zorba (Quinn) leaves her cold body on the deathbed after a fiendish loot conducted by the village people (initiated by a few local crones), he has no motivation to bury her and let her rest in peace for the sake of their liaison, even though we all know it is a miserable one-sided infatuation, it is outrageously despondent.

Anyway, if one can abide all those random grouse, the film is a competently dazzling piece of work by Cyproit director Kakogiannis, a less glamorous rigmarole compared with David Lean's A PASSAGE TO India (1984, 7/10), it is in the 1930s, a young English writer Basil visits Crete for his inheritance on the island, he encounters a larger-than-life outgoing middle-age Greek, Zorba, who volunteers to work for him and assists him in starting a mining quarry on his inherited lot, the two form a close bond meanwhile their embroilment with two widows on the island sour the Cretan hospitality of the native inhabitants, things turn uglier than one can anticipate (on a premise one doesn't familiar with its novel).

Zorba, a cimbalom player (called Santouri in Greece), a character exuberant with lust for life, the living-in-the-moment sort, an illiterate but knows to address "with your permission" when prying into his boss' private affairs, Quinn's English is somewhat too proficient in context, but his effervescence effectively galvanizes the bleak conditions, he plays boisterous pranks on the monks of monastery and materializes his creative idea of transporting limber from the mountain to their land, he is an emblem of complete freedom, but as a person, he is a deadbeat libertine, Quinn's performance is headstrong but persuasive. On the contrary, Bates' Basil is bookish, genteel and even effeminate when put opposite with Zorba, if he is more or less a proxy of the author himself, he barely motivates anything, he observes, takes the advantage of being a foreign on a primal island, one time he dares to follow his heart, tragedy ensues, both characters are not as likable as they appear to be.

Kedrova brings out two sides of Madame Hortense's life track, balancing her "stop the boom- boom" French foxiness with her latter compassion-inducing despair, helplessly living in her wish fulfillment. Papas, with scarce lines, delivers her powerful resentment superbly albeit it is damaged good in its conception, like Madame Hortense, women are men's appendages, this undertone is as vicious and dangerous as the macabre barbarism, all stink of passé values spiked with unfulfilled loathsomeness accumulated through one's own personal path.

I can't believe it is recommended as having an optimistic message! Maybe it's part of the myth about happy and beautiful poor countries that offer some "magical experience" to foreigners who then go back to their rich countries, not caring because they have felt good and that's what matters... Maybe Zorba is that fictional "good savage" who doesn't matter except for making the "civilized man" feel good about himself. Zorba is a just a sweet talker who gets his master into trouble but is also very loyal and servile. Women also don't matter.... Two widows, both used and discarded. One of them is humilliated and killed because of one night with a man. This man doesn't stand up for her and can't show even a drop of compassion or guilt after watching everything and doing nothing. Both widows/lovers of the two guys die, two scenes of human cruelty and violent herd behavior. Do they care? Both man only care about each other and other men. They quickly resume business, including other men who killed one woman and looted the other's house while she was dying. Business between men is the only thing that counts. Then, everything goes wrong and they dance...

Among the many thousands of movies I've seen, and the few hundred or so that qualify as great, this movie stands out above them all. All elements of a movie work together to create this masterpiece. The acting is second to none, with Quinn and Bates filling in their characters fully, and Kedrova and Pappas shining in their brief moments. The direction by Cacoyannis is without flaw, with each scene carefully constructed and without superfluity. The black and white photography is so beautiful that you will swear later that you can remember the blue Aegean and the green hills.

And, of course, best of all is the story and script. There are many memorable lines. In fact, the out-of-print soundtrack record contains classic excerpts from the dialog. (The music alone is reason enough to rate this movie one of the best). The story of the relationship between an existential hero and a tormented man resonates with insight and wisdom.

And best of all, this is one of the very few movies that knows EXACTLY when to end. Without spoiling the ending, let me just say that the last scene stands for me as a perfect metaphor for the essential condition of man in a world of despair, dancing for the sheer joy of existence amid the chaos.

We are all on this Earth for such a short time. Do yourself a favor and see this movie for what it can teach you about living and dying.

Alexis Zorbas…. It is a nice discovery for me to meet him in this old movie. I have found many things that anyone longs for in life. These kinds of people make me feel that life is beautiful. He is a great character. He shows wisdom with his speech and behavior. It is nice to see that he had finally managed to make the Englishman break his shyness in the end. As he quoted in the movie to him, everyman needs a little bit of madness and the Englishman showed his 'madness' at last. The closing scene was extraordinary: The two men dancing with a great music from Mikis Theodorakis, I was also snapping my fingers while they were dancing... Another thing to note is that this is the first movie I watched that is played in Greece and shows the village life of it. I have realized so many similarities between the village lifes in Turkey and Greece and it prompted me to learn more and more about the Greek people and their culture. It is so pity that to see that Turks and Greeks could have helped each other than creating problems in the past. I hope things change for good. Alexis Zorbas also mentions in the movie that Turk or Greek doesn't matter, good or bad matters

Not the best of Cacoyannis; there is too much 'local colour', (that credit 'and the people of Crete' says a lot), and the wild, savage, ethnic peasantry is laid on with a trowel as are Zorba's philosophical musings about life which really are a bit much. And as Basil, the young, bookish Englishman who comes to Crete to open a lignite mine, Alan Bates is a priggish bore. And yet, there are great things in this film. The two women are magnificent. Irene Papas, with her strong angular beauty, is a force of nature as the young widow who gives herself to Bates and Lila Kedrova is extraordinary as the pathetic old courtesan Madame Hortense who loves Zorba.

Both women have great death scenes: Papas killed by the villagers for sleeping with Bates in a sequence of almost Old Testament ferocity and Kedrova, dying of consumption, her house ransacked by the old, black clad village women like so many carrion crows. Neither of them are on screen long enough but when they are the film feels like a masterpiece.

As Zorba, Anthony Quinn's performance is a tour-de-force but there's almost too much of him. The film can hardly contain him and after the shooting of the film ended Quinn never stopped playing Zorba. It was if he had found the ideal part and wouldn't let it go . The film remains hugely entertaining but it is something of a mess and lacks the spontaneity of Cacoyannis' earlier films like "Stella" and "A Girl in Black".

This movie still sticks in my mind although I saw it some decades ago. I could never understand the tone of optimism and joie de vivre celebrated by so many promoters before and after I saw it. To me the overwhelming event was the callous lynching of the Widow, and the subsequent shrugging of the shoulders by Zorba in his attitude of just "getting on with life" after that horror. I had nightmares for years afterwards. It remains one of the most horrific movies I've ever seen.

I had always loved the music, especially the main theme and dance "Zorba the Greek" before I saw it, but I I couldn't subsequently bear to hear it. I do feel that when it was first released and promoted, its content was largely misrepresented. How could anyone celebrate the positives about this movie when its negative feature so overwhelmingly colours its narrative? I'm not against realism in movies, but when the actual experience of seeing it turns out to be so opposite to what I expected I was extremely disappointed. A joyful movie should be promoted as such, and a horror movie should be advertised as such.