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The political thriller has always been a popular genre, but it's not often that films give us whatZ offers: a political thriller where thepolitical takes precedence over thethriller. This movie is for those who prefer for there to be meat on a screenplay's skeleton and who don't demand far-fetched conspiracy theories that play fast and loose with the facts.Z is fictional, but it has a strong basis in reality - so strong, in fact, that an opening caption trumpets: "Any resemblance to real events, to persons living or dead, is not accidental. It is DELIBERATE." Despite having been made nearly four decades ago, the themes are as relevant today as they were in 1969, even though the world has undergone many changes. The core argument - how fascist elements, claiming to be "patriotic," can undermine a democracy from within by seeking to quell "unpopular" viewpoints - is a danger that must be guarded against as diligently in 2006 as whenZ first opened.

The narrative takes its inspiration from an event that occurred in 1963 Greece. On May 22 of that year, Opposition Leader Gregorios Lambrakis was assassinated in an event that was made to look like a traffic accident. A government-appointed investigator, instead of rubber-stamping the official story, dug deep and found inconsistencies and lies. He uncovered a plot that implicated a number of high ranking individuals. Ultimately, only the little guys were punished as the muscle, not the brains, received the lion's share of jail time.

Z follows this basic story as it occurred, although the film intentionally avoids naming names or places. More than forty years removed from the historical events, this allowsZ to feel less fettered by a setting, enhancing the universality of its themes. Director Costa-Gavras (who did an uncredited re-write of Jorge Semprun's script) has dividedZ into three parts. Act one concentrates on the arrival of the Deputy (Yves Montand) in the City. He is a controversial figure and his arrival sparks protests, both for and against him. The second act follows the assassination, and shows how the Deputy's widow (Irene Papas) struggles with her husband's death and how the Deputy's assistants (Charles Denner and Bernard Fresson) keep the movement alive. Finally, act three explores the investigation by the Examining Magistrate (Jean-Louis Trintignant) into the case, and the slow-but-sure way in which he reveals a cover-up that leads to the General (Pierre Dux), the highest ranking police officer.

The government is officially a democracy, but it has become infected by fascist ideals. Liberal, socialist doctrine, such as the one espoused by the Deputy, are not tolerated. Legally, rallies are allowed to proceed, but the government secretly uses right-wing hooligans to stir up trouble and eliminate "enemies of the State." This is a danger of democracy - that unpopular views can be crushed because the majority disapproves of them. This can lead to the so-called political slippery slope whose end point can be anything from fascism to a dictatorship. As much as it is a political thriller,Z is also a cautionary tale, and it uses a real-life case to make its point.

For someone who is only on screen for a short time, legendary actor Yves Montand leaves a forceful impression. The Deputy comes across as a man of great principles and integrity, one who will not stoop to the level of his enemies. He's also naïve. He doesn't take the death threats seriously and it isn't until his last conscious moments, when he sees the danger, that he recognizes the gravity of the situation. Montand's Deputy looms large over the entire movie, even though he is only in a handful of scenes and the character dies before the half-way mark. Irene Papas brings an emotional edge to her performance, with her short, happy flashbacks providing added poignancy. Finally, Jean-Louis Trintignant displays a bulldog-like intensity as we see beneath his seemingly icy exterior into the fire of indignation that burns there. He senses he was brought in to "rubber stamp" the official story and seethes because he was deemed to weak or too ineffective to uncover the truth.

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. It's true thatZ has a lot to say, but the movie does it in a suspenseful fashion that pulls the viewer into the story and fills him or her with the same sense of righteous anger that possesses Trintignant's character. The movie is in color, yet its starkness makes it feel as if it's in black-and-white. In the wake ofZ's success, Costa-Gavras continued to make films with an equally uncompromising vision, some in French and some in English, includingState of Siege, Missing, andThe Music Box.

Z is disquieting not only because the events actually happened, but because we sense they could happen again, closer to home. Democracy is a delicate balancing act and it doesn't take much to tip it one way or another, and one of the first indications of a collapse is an abridgment of essential freedoms. Since the first groups and viewpoints to be banned are the unpopular ones, such things often go unnoticed, at least at first. There is a hero inZ, and he uncovers the truth, but one has to wonder whether his victory is real or pyrrhic. The end captions, like Greek history, don't paint an optimistic picture. Even thoughZ ends on what could be seen as a triumphant note, a cloud of darkness is falling by the time the end credits roll.

© 2006 James Berardinelli