Alexis Zorbas (1964) Online

Anthony Quinn's Zorba became a point of reference, in fact I'm writing this review 54 years after its first release. He is everything and more. Alan Bates is outstanding walking that very thin line but totally committed to that duality that makes him so human, so real. Lila Kedrova won an Oscar for her performance, deservedly so. Simone Signoret had been offered the part and she was the one who suggested Lila Kedrova to the director, Michael Cacoyanis. I love that story. Zorba has also the power of Irene Papas who makes her silent calling absolutely riveting and the contagious Mikis Theodorakis's score all together in a beautiful, savage, compelling film that doesn't show any signs of aging

Nikos Kazantzakis' novels lend themselves to cinematic treatment. Jules Dassin made a great adaptation of "He Who Must Die", and Michael Cacoyannis was equally successful in bringing "Alexis Zorbas" to the screen. Watching this film for a second time puts into perspective a lot of things that escape many a viewer the first time around.

Michael Cacoyannis changed the order of events in the book, as well as Nikos, who he transforms into Basil, the Englishman. The changes are not without merit since all the elements contribute to blend well together in the finished product. The director was fortunate to find such collaborators as Mikis Theodorakis, the genial composer of the music score and Walter Lassally, who photographed the barren area where most of the action takes place. Viewing the film on cable recently, shows Lassally's crisp black and white photography in mint condition.

The film is totally dominated by Zorba, who is a figure larger than life, as he takes Basil under his wing from the start. Anthony Quinn was a perfect choice for playing the title character. Mr. Quinn had worked with other brilliant directors, Federico Fellini, being one of them. It's almost impossible to think of Mr. Quinn as being an American because the magnificent transformation he undergoes here to portray Zorba.

Alan Bates, who is seen as Basil, the Englishman of Greek descent, who is going to Crete to see the family's land and mine. By underplaying Basil, Mr. Bates set the right tone, in sharp contrast with Anthony Quinn's exuberance. Alan Bates, in the end, made perfect sense with the way he played Basil.

Lila Kedrova is another surprise in the film. She is the tragic Madame Hortense, who has lived in the island for quite a while. It's ironic that love always eluded her until she finds in Zorba a reason for keep on living. Irene Papas is equally intense as the widow who is haunted by all the men in town. She has little to say, but just a look from her smolders the screen, be it, for the lust she felt for Basil, or the hatred for the town male population.

Michael Cacoyannis uses these men, as a sort of Greek Chorus, so important in Greek tragedies. The same could be said of the older women of the town who resent the arrivals of strangers. The Greek cast one sees is quite effective in the context of the movie.

"Alexis Zorbas", or "Zorba, the Greek", is a film that will stay with the viewer for quite a while because of what the director accomplished with it.

OK, I admit I've seen this movie a dozen times. But it never fails to inspire. Was there ever a man who lived life as fully as Alexis Zorba? Was there ever a character who understood so much about living and dying, women and men? Zorba ripping a piece of lamb from the spit and biting into it with joy and verve, dancing in pain or dancing from joy, expressing his wonderment at the sight of a dolphin, gives this character a special place in movie history.

If the rich storytelling and great Quinn performance were not enough, we get the young Alan Bates in a fine part doing a fine piece of acting, and the extraordinary pair of performances by Lila Kedrova and, especially, Irene Pappas, who need not speak a word to convey an entire menu of emotions.

The final scenes are among the best in movies. The music is among the best. Indeed, the MOVIE is among the best.

A GREAT movie.

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!!

Anthony Quinn's performance is phenomenal. In a world filled with ignorance, lack of vision, hate, and the most shameful examples of human depravity, Zorba provides beautifully imperfect goodness. There is no pretense about who Zorba is. Despite his imperfections (and there are so many), he is genuine love, kindness and passion. The scene where Zorba remains by his dying wife's (Madame Hortense) side is pure and sweet and extremely moving. While the greedy masses, like vultures, swoop in to steal any possible item from this woman's home, Zorba provides profound comfort, while most others would have reacted differently. I can't believe it took me 40 years to see this movie. Gracias, Señor Quinn!

What an exuberant film - not to be missed! It chronicles sadness and joy so beautifully that one can't help but want to weep, laugh, and dance along. There are four wonderful performances, led by Anthony Quinn, whose enthusiam for life almost leaps from the screen, giving rise to an almost sacrilegious thought: How could Rex Harrison's stuffy, embalmed Professor Henry Higgins have won the Best Actor Oscar over Quinn as Zorba? Lila Kedrova is heartbreaking as Madame Hortense, the dying prostitute with a colorful past. The always-enjoyable Alan Bates, and the striking Irene Papas as the Widow. Like Anna Magnani, Papas was an actress who transcended any language barrier, who didn't need dialogue at all - her face and body said everything she needed to.

For the most part the film looks great on DVD, with crisp, clear black-and-white photography. But I have one quibble: the transfer seems to have been made from the same source as the videotape prints in circulation, because there are a couple of instances of obvious post-production looping (possibly for prime-time television broadcasts), changing 'goddam' to 'old damn,' for instance - they even do this in the English subtitles. But read Quinn's lips - there's no mistaking what the original lines were! I'd expected that the original unedited soundtrack would have been restored.

Top-notch picture based on an adaptation of Nikos Kazantzakis's hugely popular novel . It deals with an uptight and poignant English writer called Basil (Alan Bates was Mihalis Kakogiannis's first choice for this part) traveling to Crete on a matter of business finds his life changed forever when he meets the zesty as well as joyful Zorba (in title role Anthony Quinn displays an awesome acting , he is a delight as Alexis) . Gregarious Zorba is an eye-opener to the visiting stranger . At a tiny village the writer meets an old spinster woman named Madame Hortense (Lila Kedrova was a win an Academy Award, though Simone Signoret was the original choice for this role and turned it down and she came to regret that decision) and a beautiful widow (a young Irene Papas) .

Sensitive and thought-provoking film plenty of drama , emotion , Greek social habits and wonderful performances .Interesting and flavorful screenplay by the same filmmaker from Nikos Kazantzakis' novel who also wrote ¨The last temptation of Christ¨. Special mention to Anthony Quinn as an uncomplicated and jolly man , an earthy and humble peasant with a real lust for life , a character he has become identified with . However , in the earlier stages of filming, the filmmaker and Anthony Quinn had frequent disagreements as the director felt that his leading actor was being too over-the-top . Alan Bates as a sensible as well as intellectual writer is also very good and the young beauty Irene Papas is marvelous as a widow who originates a tragedy . Extraordinary Lila Kedrova as an aging and dying courtesan, she ended up receiving an Academy Award for her role. The original Broadway production of "Zorba" opened at the Imperial Theater in New York on November 16, 1968, ran for 305 performances and was nominated for the 1969 Tony Award for the Best Musical. Anthony Quinn and Lila Kedrova who starred together in this movie version appeared in the revival of Zorba in 1982-3 with Lila Kedrova winning the 1984 Tony Award for Best Featured Actress in a Musical .

Gorgeous , enjoyable cinematography in white and black by Walter Lassally that also won deservedly an Oscar. Rousing and immortal soundtrack by Mikis Theodorakis based on Greek traditional music , including breathtaking dances performed by Anthony Quinn. However , Anthony Quinn had a broken foot during filming, and thus couldn't perform the dance on the beach as scripted, which called for much leaping around ; instead, he did a slow shuffle . This brooding motion picture was stunningly directed by Michael Cacoyannis ,though the project was turned down by every major studio . Cacoyannis was an expert on adaptations based upon Classic Greek plays such as ¨Iphigenea¨ , ¨Elektra¨ and ¨The Trojan women¨ . ¨Zorba¨ rating : Better than average , worthwhile watching . Essential and indispensable seeing for Anthony Quinn fans .

When I first saw Zorba the Greek 4 years ago, I inwardly thanked my philosophy teacher for having us watch this masterpiece. Today, I am still greatful to him. This movie is definetely one of my all time favorite. The whole cast is great, the story is really close from the book (except for some details that an author can write in a book, but a director can't put easily in a film), images are wonderful, Crete is.perfect. If you have never seen this movie, I recommend it to you.

A young Englishman is writing on a manuscript about the Buddha. He meets Alexis Zorba who greatly influences his outlook on life. The narrator, whose name is not revealed, hires Zorba to superintend the workmen in his lignite mine in Crete. Zorba the Greek is a book and a movie by nature on the contrast between the Apollonian and the Dionysian outlook on life. Apollo/the boss(Alan Bates) represents the spirit of order and rationality, while Dionysus/Zorba(Anthony Quinn) represents the spirit of ecstatic, spontaneous will to life. Anthony Quinn's performance is really great. I read the book about a month ago and I guess I couldn't visualize the Zorba image in my mind that well. His looks,one-liners,his dancing sirtaki on the beach,his harmony with Madame Hortense(Lila Kedrova)just looks so nice.It is really surprising that Lila Kedrova got "Academy Award for Best Supporting Actress" while Anthony Quinn just got the nomination for best actor in a leading role.(Such a pity that he didn't get it.) Well that work of art is not so great as "Jesus Re-crucified" or "The Last Temptation of Christ " but is a still great Kazanthakis art.And the adapted movie is a really good one coz given that the whole book is based on a contrast introduced by Friedrich Nietzsche and it is not supposed to be easy to cinematize a philosophical book.Great Quinn! Great movie!(But I Don't THINK LILA KEDROVA DESERVES THAT AWARD) If you have ever read Kazanthakis you should absolutely see this movie!

This seems to be the best part of Anthony Quinn ever. The exuberance of Zorba, the character's capacity of seeing only the bright side of life and of transferring this optimistic attitude to the others and the metaphor of dance on the deserted beach, after the failure - some of the things that make a masterpiece of this movie. Also, actors like Irene Papas and Alan Bates play their parts with great professionalism, creating strong characters and giving them a real authenticity. This film is a must-see for all those who think defeats are only simple obstacles that we all have to pass beyond by smiling and, why not, dancing in the sun.

I can't decide which was Anthony Quinn's best performance ever: "La strada" or "Zorba the Greek". In the latter, he plays Alexis Zorba, a fun-loving Cretan* who befriends bored Englishman Basil (Alan Bates), who has come to Crete to inherit a mine. As the movie progresses, we see Zorba's penchant for living life to its fullest. By the end, you'll probably wish that you could be in the movie dancing with him.

"Zorba the Greek" is quite literally a flawless movie. Virtually anything that you've ever wished that you could do but never had the chance, you can bet money that Zorba does. As he reminds Basil in one scene, "You will live a thousand years." *Yes, a person from Crete is called a Cretan.

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.

I have not read the book of Zorba, which I may do in order to find out if the book has any messages and actually says anything more than the film does. I assume, and hope, that it does. I was very relieved, on reading the last few of the previous reviews here, to find that some other viewers found the film depressing, misogynistic and unpleasant.

I agree, as another reviewer suggested, that it's most likely the soundtrack which made this a popular film. Or at least I hope that it is. I did not think I had a very high opinion of human nature, but my opinion will have to be lowered even further if it's true that huge numbers of people actually enjoyed a film in which the two female characters are reviled, made fun of, and either murdered or have to see their house being looted around them as they die.

Female sexuality in this film is treated as a either a pathetic joke or a threat. Even though Zorba is kind to the older woman as she dies, for the rest of the film he treats her like dirt. He humors her while she's awake (and thus presumably able to give him sexual favors), but when she falls asleep he calls her a dirty b***h and mocks her. After the young widow is murdered, Zorba asks "Why do the young die?" as if she had just died some natural death, instead of being murdered by the entire village. When the Englishman says that his books talk about the suffering of men who ask questions like Zorba's, Zorba answers "I spit on their suffering." That, it seems, is what the whole film is doing -- showing immense suffering and cruelty, but then saying that the only thing to do in the face of that suffering is to dance -- rather than trying to do something to stop the cruelty.

The one character in the film who seems to have a sensible, human reaction to the horror around them is the apparent "village idiot", who screams at the villagers "murderers! Killers!" Perhaps that is the point here, that the supposedly sane people are hideous murderers, and only the "idiot" can see how psychotic the rest of the world is.

If that is the intended point, it's an interesting one. But I can't tell if the filmmakers were actually trying to make that point, or if they think it's all right to go through life despising everyone around you, never trying to help anyone, and dancing.

I recall that the threat of thermonuclear annihilation had people kind of stressed back in 1964, but I am unable to imagine how this film was viewed as life-affirming in any way.

The people in this village on Crete were so mean-spirited and parochial that toward the end, I kept wishing that someone would call in an air strike, as in the end of Apocalypse Now, or start blowing their heads off, as in Night of the Living Dead.

This movie has long been pimped as being a celebration of a man's lust for life. The message it left me with was that if you want to enjoy yourself, you have to spend a lot of time actively ignoring that your neighbors deserve to be exterminated.

Great performances were not a fair trade-off for making me feel that people basically suck.

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.

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

I really wanted to love this movie, because it's one of my mom's favorites. But the truth is that I couldn't make any emotional connection with it. Young Englishman meets middle age Greek man in his way to Crete, who unabashedly asks him for employment. Englishman (Basil) accepts and takes Zorba as a kind of personal assistant. 15 minutes have passed, and you still have 2 hours and 6 minutes to go!

They meet aging French lady, whom Zorba romances. Next, we are introduced to the beautiful and inaccessible young widow of the town; every man in town desires her but she doesn't like anyone, so the men despise her. Basil has a kind gesture to her. 1 hour and 15 minutes to go … Basil and Zorba get their hands to try to put an old mine property of Basil to work, Zorba gives us a few one liners, calls the French lady a dirty old cow, incites Basil to go and chase the widow and spend less time with books, Zorba goes to town, spends money that it's not his own with a young chick. 45 minutes to go … Basil finally decides to aboard the widow, they spent the night together, young boy in love with her kills himself, town men go mad, they kill the widow while Basil does nothing but to call for Zorba, and Zorba "defends" the widow but leaves her alone amidst all the men … next the French lady dies while the villagers loot her house. Next, the mining project fails, but what the heck, sh%t happens in life, right? Basil and Zorba eat lamb, they know Basil will soon depart, and they dance in a long shot primarily designed to hide the fact that these are doubles who are dancing and not Alan Bates and Anthony Quinn –end of the story- thanks God because it already clocked 141 minutes.

I don't mind to disrespect those who really like the movie and have a deep emotional connection to it. As I mentioned, my own mother belongs to this group, though a suspect her liking of this movie is more related to fond memories of her youth than to actual appreciation of the movie. I love Anthony Quinn as an actor; my favorite movie of all times right now is La Strada. But in this film, I think he was a real ham, especially on the early scenes. And the accent was awful to me; I have to admit I have heard very few Greeks speaking English, but the accent wasn't believable enough for me, it was more Mexican than anything else, and it came and go along the movie. Alan Bates was completely comatose. I mean, his character has spent what should be a passionate night with this gorgeous woman,she is killed, and he has no feelings at all? No sadness? If he does, this actor has nothing to demonstrate it. Lila Kedrova was much better,but after spending a morning hearing a real Frenchwoman navigate through English didn't do much to convince me about Kedrova being a French lady.

I know the Director won an Oscar, and the Academy should know better, but for some reason I didn't like it; it came as pretentious and cheating, but it maybe that I'm just going through a Fellini's period where my standards are too high. I especially detested the scene where Zorba is dancing outside Basil's bungalow. The fast editing shots between legs and torso are nothing to me but a mean to disguise that those weren't Quinn's legs doing the dance. About the script, I beg to differ, but I didn't found anything enlightening about human condition but the sense that man are cruel, very cruel, no matter if they are educated English writers or ignorant Greek adventures; in any case, the life of a woman has zero value and life has to go on eating and dancing and looking for new experiences. But again, it maybe that my expectation was to find something similar to La Strada, where a human being suffering does have an impact on the conscience and emotional life of a brutish man. These were some of the most excruciating 141 of my movie watching experiences, but they were worthy; now I don't have to accept from anybody the argument that this is one of the greatest movies ever made. If you think so, I totally respect you, and more power to you. It just doesn't fit on my "greatest movies list". Maybe I'll give it another try in some twenty years (If God gives me life of course, and if the movie is still preserved in some mean) and I'll see if my opinion changed. Meanwhile, this movie belongs to the category "I'll see it again if you put a gun on my head and force me to".

the most simple word is to say than it is a masterpiece. or a memorable film. or expression of high art of Cacoyannis. or the happy meet between Quinn and Bates. or, maybe, the frame for a huge character - madame Hortense. or the magnificent adaptation of the novel of Kazantsakis. nothing wrong in this definitions. but "Zorba the Greek", for me, is one of the most portraits of the essence of life. its steps. its levels. its vulnerability and darkness and joy and answers to the challenges. a film about people. and about theirs limits, beauty and ugliness marks. this detail does it a great film. a fool in a house. a stranger in foreign country. a dance. and this is all.

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.

Contrary to others who may think this film is some sort of tribute to living life to the fullest, it is completely depressing, pessimistic, and detestible. There is not one likeable character in the entire film. Zorba is a jackass who f***s up the lives of everyone he comes in contact with because of his selfish "zest" for life, i.e., wasting other people's time and money while lying to them. He's a man who has left his wife and family behind with no regret and works odd jobs, including wrecking Basil's mine and depleting his money. Basil thinks this is wonderful. Why? It's almost as if Basil has latent gay love for Zorba. One of the 2 most disturbing moments in the film is when the widow (Irene Pappas) is murdered in broad daylight by a crowd which is angry that she has somehow driven an unrequited lover to suicide. Basil does nothing, even though the widow's his love interest (interestingly though Basil did not previously sleep with the widow). Zorba tries to protect the widow, but she's still murdered, her throat slit like a lamb to the slaughter. INCREDIBLY, Zorba and Basil go on about their business like this is some sort of acceptable crime. WHAT THE HELL!! The level of mysogyny is disturbing.

Then, when the French hotel woman dies, the author/director maligns the poor villagers (and the people of Greece) by making them look like vultures that steal her possessions before she's even croaked. This isn't a celebration of life, but a sad portrayal of common people as evil idiots. I wish this story had never been made into a film.

This has been and always will be my favourite movie along with Local Hero. Just the wonderful, wonderful believable characters make it a gem. No cinematic license or special effects needed; just strength drawn from the brilliant storyline, the music and the beautiful scenery. No more needs to be said!! I was 10 years old when this was made and I saw it first at the age of 15. One of those movies when you can remember who you saw it with and even the atmosphere in the cinema!! Also so refreshing to see it many times and still in black and white. I haven't seen a movie with Alan Bates or Anthony Quinn that I haven't enjoyed but this beats them all!! A "must see" for any serious movie buff! Thank goodness for DVD as whenever I need a reality check or just cheering up "on it goes again".

Would have been good but for the barbarism.

An Englishman, Basil (played by Alan Bates), is en route to Crete where he owns a long-disused mine. Along the way he encounters, befriends and employs Zorba (Anthony Quinn). Once in Crete they set about trying to get the mine operational. Basil is quite risk averse, studious and introverted while Zorba is extroverted, gregarious, happy-go-lucky and lives life to the fullest. Over time, Zorba's zestfulness starts to rub off on Basil...

Starts slowly but over time the movie starts to accumulate a feel- good factor, especially when we see Zorba's antics and Basil start to open up.

However, this is all ruined by two acts of sheer barbarism towards the end, both committed by the moronic inhabitants of the village. What's worse, both these acts are just taken as par for the course, and there is no ultimate justice for these acts. You could understand the imbecilic villagers feeling that way, but both Basil and Zorba continue as if nothing had happened. What's more, the first case involves someone quite dear to Basil.

From the point of the first atrocity, the air goes out of the movie and this is made worse by the second act. There are some lighter moments in the last few scenes but these can't repair the damage. What should have been a light, happy movie, even a comedy of sorts, ends as an uneven study in the barbaric customs and thinking of primitive people.

Michael Cacoyannis was an extremely promising filmmaker prior to making "Zorba the Greek". His films "The Girl in Black," "Stella," and especially "A Matter of Dignity" were remarkable for their intelligence and incisive portraits of modern Greek society. Even his most successful film prior to "Zorba" - his adaptation of Euripides' "Elektra" - was gripping, even if it considerably foreshortened the classical tragedy. The success of those films persuaded Hollywood to beckon Cacoyannis away from Greece, and "Zorba the Greek" was the result.

The film is a star vehicle for Anthony Quinn, which is not a bad thing if you're a Quinn fan. If you aren't, there is always the splendid Alan Bates in the role of a milquetoast writer and the stunning Irene Papas as the village widow. But then there is the altogether awful performance of Lila Kedrova as a French cocotte far past her prime. It's not hard to believe that she won an Oscar for the performance.

But the real problem with the film is Nikos Kazantzakis' terrible novel. Modern Greek literature has produced at least two world-class poets - Cavafy and Ritsos. There have also been several lesser poets, two of whom nevertheless won Nobel Prizes, George Seferis and Odysseus Elytis. But Kazantzakis was not a part of this effluence of demotic Greek talent. He was a self-tormenting Christian on the order of Kierkegaard whose mediocrity did not prevent him from writing an unreadable "sequel" to Homer's "Odyssey".

"Zorba" was aiming at a picaresque portrayal of Greek and Cretan "types", but fails to inspire much sympathy for them. In fact, the villagers in the story (which Cacoyannis follows closely) are portrayed as vicious and spiteful, committing such acts of heartless savagery that no explanation could possibly make sense of it. The film simply leaves the two incidents hanging, and blithely proceeds with the story as if nothing had happened. These gaffes leave the film full of holes. And even the ridiculous final failure at the film's conclusion cannot excuse the cute (and ultimately stupid) little dance in which Quinn and Bates engage, supposedly expressing some kind of acceptance of the absurdity of life. Can any honest viewer conceive of concluding this bitter and unedifying experience with a dance? A quick run back to the video store might be a happier resolution.

In a role that many think is Anthony Quinn's greatest performance, Zorba the Greek is a movie that stands up to repeat watching. Zorba teaches his English friend that one must laugh and dance through life's sorrows and disasters. The Greek traditional music used in the film is catching and is often a viewer's introduction to that form of music. Quinn's supporting cast is great! The closing scene where Zorba dances away on the beach is memorable, especially since he did the dance on a broken leg! Injury or not, Quinn did the scene with an infectious smile and humanity that makes the role of Zorba one for the ages.

• Includes spoiling -

I was looking forward to seeing this movie, since I had gotten the impression that this classic was somewhat concerned about the issues of happiness and life. But after watching it I've hard to see the morale of the story. The scene where the beautiful widow, played by Irene Pappas, is being chased and killed was one of the strongest scenes I've ever seen in a movie, and affected me a lot. Yet the main character, Alan Bates, doesn't seem sad at all. He says that he couldn't have done anything, and that's it. He never reflects about the girl, that it was his fault because he visited her, no; he's completely heartless, which surprises me, him being a soft, shy and cowardly guy and all. In the next scene, the second widow, Lila Kedrova, is dying and the local citizens are gathering around waiting for her to die so they can steal her possessions. Another great scene, in my opinion, giving some social criticism showing human greed and lack of compassion. And still, no emotional flow. Not long after the horrible death of these two women, Zorba and the Englishman are having a great time dancing. They don't seem to care at all about those mishappenings. Their behaviour and the way they feel...it's almost criminal. Imagine their outcome in case L'Étranger (Albert Camus)... I think those scenes could have been better developed, though they are the highlights of the movie. Is the happy ending forced? Maybe, but I guess it fits better with the movie as whole. They could however, instead of holding back the emotions, have let the tragedy blossomed in these two, or three, scenes, and then more slowly have turned the pattern towards a happy ending. I think Frank Capra would have been the ideal man for that job.

So, is this film trying to say anything? That you should be happy, drink, dance, enjoy life and have fun? Or is it just putting a strictly bounded Englishman together with a more or less mad and life enjoying Greek? Or does it want to tell, like Zorba says in the end, that a touch of madness is good element in every man's life?

3/5