Feature film
Zorba the Greek
Αλέξης Ζορμπάς
Michael Cacoyannis · 1964
Synopsis
At Piraeus, Basil, a young British writer who is leaving for Crete to reopen a lignite mine inherited from his father, meets Alexis Zorba, an exuberant peasant who offers to follow him as a labourer. In the village, the two men settle in at the house of Madame Hortense, an ageing former French courtesan whom Zorba courts, while Basil falls in love with a young widow whom all the men covet. Zorba, for his part, sets out to teach his employer another way of living.
Context
The film was shot in Crete, at Chania, in the village of Kókkino Chorió and on the beach at Stavrós, on a budget of 783,000 dollars; Cacoyannis was its screenwriter, producer and editor, and Mikis Theodorakis wrote the music. Lila Kedrova replaced Simone Signoret during the shoot. Anthony Quinn, who had broken his foot, could not perform the planned dance on the beach: the sirtaki, often taken for a traditional dance, was composed for the film by the choreographer Giórgos Próvias. Released in Athens on 14 December 1964, the film earned more than twenty-three million dollars.
Who it is for
Two hours twenty, mostly in English, with some lines in Greek. The novel on which it is based is by Níkos Kazantzákis.
Prizes and reception
Three Oscars in 1965 out of seven nominations, for Lila Kedrova, for Walter Lassally's cinematography and for Vassílis Fotópoulos's sets.
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