Production Budget Analysis

The production budget for Z (1969) has not been publicly disclosed.

CAST: Yves Montand, Irene Papas, Jean-Louis Trintignant, Jacques Perrin, Charles Denner, François Périer DIRECTOR: Costa-Gavras CINEMATOGRAPHY: Raoul Coutard MUSIC: Míkis Theodorakis PRODUCTION: Valoria Films, Reggane Films, Office National pour le Commerce et l'Industrie Cinématographique (ONCIC)

Box Office Performance

Z earned $17,300,000 domestically and $-17,216,695 internationally, for a worldwide total of $83,305. The film skewed heavily domestic (20767%), suggesting strong North American appeal.

Detailed Box Office Notes

The film had a total of 3,952,913 admissions in France and was the 4th highest-grossing film of the year. It was also very popular in the United States grossing $17.3 million,

Profitability Assessment

Insufficient publicly available data to assess profitability.

INDUSTRY IMPACT

Filmmakers Paul Greengrass and Aki Kaurismäki listed the film in their top 10 films of all time for the 2012 Sight and Sound poll and other films directors such as Michael Haneke, Paul Schrader and John Woo have listed it as one of their favorite films.

The French filmmaker Mathieu Kassovitz listed the film as influential to his work.

The French filmmaker Rachid Bouchareb listed Z as an influence on his film Outside the Law.

It is regarded as one of American filmmaker Oliver Stone's favorite films that inspired his filmmaking. John Milius also cited the film as an influence.

The American filmmaker Steven Soderbergh listed Z as an inspiration on his film Traffic and stated that he "wanted to make it like [Costa-Gavras]'s Z".

The American filmmaker William Friedkin listed Z as one of his favorite films and mentioned the film's influence on him when directing his film The French Connection: "After I saw Z, I realized how I could shoot The French Connection. Because he [Costa-Gavras] shot Z like a documentary. It was a fiction film but it was made like it was actually happening. Like the camera didn't know what was gonna happen next. And that is an induced technique. It looks like he happened upon the scene and captured what was going on as you do in a documentary. My first films were documentaries too.

PRODUCTION NOTES

▸ Production

Principal photography took place in Algiers at actor Jacques Perrin's suggestion, which the filmmakers approved for its Mediterranean environment and because the Ministry of Culture was accommodating. In Algiers, the Hotel St. Georges and the central square were filming locations, while Paris' Théâtre des Champs-Élysées was used for the ballet scenes. Marcel Bozzuffi performed his own stunts wrestling on the "Kamikaze" vehicle due to the production's lack of budget for professional stunt performers.

Costa-Gavras chose Z as the title of the film based on its common occurrence in Greek graffiti for "He lives" (or even "Lambrakis you live; it’s you who guides us!" [Λαμπράκη ζεις, εσύ μας οδηγείς!; Lambráki zis, esý mas odigís!]); Costa-Gavras acknowledged a one-letter film title was unconventional and said Yves Montand expressed concern it would be confused with Zorro, but Costa-Gavras said the novelty of the idea won him over.

▸ Music & Score

The soundtrack by Mikis Theodorakis was a hit record. The Greek junta had placed the composer under house arrest but he was able to give his approval to Costa-Gavras for the use of existing musical pieces.

The film features, but does not credit, Pierre Henry's contemporary hit song "Psyché Rock". The soundtrack as released on LP and CD replaces Henry's song with a similar track written by Theodorakis titled "Café Rock."

# Main Title (Antonis) from the "Mauthausen Trilogy" of Mikis Theodorakis # The Smiling Youth # The Chase-The Smiling Youth # Murmur of the Heart # Cafe Rock # Arrival of Helen-The Smiling Youth # Batucada # The Smiling Youth (Bouzouki Version) # The Smiling Youth # Who's Not Talking About Easter # Finale-The Smiling Youth # Murmur of the Heart # In This Town

"The Smiling Youth" and "Who's Not Talking About Easter" were among the poems adapted from Brendan Behan's play The Hostage by Theodorakis in 1962. By referring to the Irish struggle against British rule rather than Greek realities, the poems offered a way to circumvent censorship in Greece and condemn Greece's post-war right-wing establishment. "The Smiling Youth" (το γελαστό παιδί) was also one of the nicknames of Lambrakis.

AWARDS & RECOGNITION

Summary: Won 2 Oscars. 12 wins & 13 nominations total

Awards Won: ★ Academy Award for Best Film Editing — Françoise Bonnot (42nd Academy Awards) ★ Academy Award for Best International Feature Film (42nd Academy Awards)

Nominations: ○ Academy Award for Best Picture (42nd Academy Awards) ○ Academy Award for Best Writing, Adapted Screenplay (42nd Academy Awards) ○ Academy Award for Best Director (42nd Academy Awards) ○ Academy Award for Best Film Editing (42nd Academy Awards) ○ International Submission to the Academy Awards ○ Academy Award for Best International Feature Film (42nd Academy Awards)

CRITICAL RECEPTION

At the time of release, Chicago Sun-Times film critic Roger Ebert, who named Z the best film of 1969, liked the screenplay and its message, and wrote: "[Z] is a film of our time. It is about how even moral victories are corrupted. It will make you weep and will make you angry. It will tear your guts out...When the Army junta staged its coup in 1967, the right-wing generals and the police chief were cleared of all charges and 'rehabilitated.' Those responsible for unmasking the assassination now became political criminals. These would seem to be completely political events, but the young director Costa-Gavras has told them in a style that is almost unbearably exciting. Z is at the same time a political cry of rage and a brilliant suspense thriller. It even ends in a chase: Not through the streets but through a maze of facts, alibis and official corruption."

In 2006, critic James Berardinelli wrote: "Z was the third feature film from Greek-born Costa-Gavras, but it is the movie that captured him to the world's attention, winning a Best Foreign Language Film Oscar. It introduced the director's signature approach of combining overt political messages with edge-of-the-seat tension." Jonathan Richards wrote in 2009: "It's hard to overstate the impact that this Oscar-winning procedural thriller had in 1969, on a world roiling in political activism, repression, and discord. In the U.S., the Vietnam War was on the front burner, the populace was passionately engaged, and the police riots outside the '68 Chicago Democratic Convention and the murder of Black Panther Fred Hampton were raw wounds.