BuzzFlash Reviews

July 2005

Z (DVD)

BUZZFLASH REVIEWS

Could there be a more timely film, even though it was made about a government/military crime committed more than 35 years ago in Greece?

We doubt it.

Besides having a stellar European cast (including Yves Montand), "Z" (which means, "He Lives" in Greek) is directed by the master of the political thriller, Costa-Gavras.

And as soon as the film opens, the parallels to contemporary Bushevik America begin. The military and police leaders in a city want to purify the nation of dissenters who they denounce as a "virus" that infects the nationalistic and Godly values of the homeland. Sound familiar?

The desire to rid Greek society of dissenters who believe in peace and justice leads to a crime planned by military and police leaders, using paid thugs and criminals to carry it out.

Why is it timely? For many reasons, including how one elitist group can see itself as divinely inspired and the champions of patriotism, which gives them free rein to violate the law to achieve their goals of instilling their "values" upon "their" nation.

More importantly, "Z" details how a prosecutor is appointed to whitewash the crime. But something totally unexpected happens. The prosecutor has integrity, he believes in justice and the rule of law. He is warned by superiors, including the country's attorney general, to wrap the case up without implicating "higher-ups." But, the prosecutor will not turn his back on justice and indicts the military and police figures who planned the crime, in spite of knowing that he is putting his entire career in jeopardy.

That is the choice U.S. Attorney Patrick Fitzgerald, given the responsibility of "investigating" PlameGate, has to make. Does he let the big fish off the hook, or does he bring them to justice, despite enormous pressure to protect the Bushevik team elite, including Karl Rove?

We know what the prosecutor did in "Z," but we don't know what Fitzgerald will do.

Oh, and just so you don't get your hopes up, after the just prosecutor indicts the guilty, regardless of their rank, the Greek military, with a green light from the U.S., conducted a coup that installed a military dictatorship in Athens. They weren't going to allow for the rule of law to apply to them.

Sounds all too familiar to the dictatorial philosophy of covert power consolidation underway by the Busheviks.

As one online reviewer noted, "The movie portrays well how authoritarian powers, although using the discourse of 'democracy,' protect themselves at any cost and will transmute into right-wing dictatorships if threatened with collapse."

Yes, very familiar indeed.

But in addition to all of its political sparks and contemporary implications, it is, above all, a masterful political thriller that stands the test of time in its acting, script, directing and editing. Four stars and three thumbs up.

BUZZFLASH REVIEWS