Από το κείμενο στην οθόνη: Ζ, φανταστικό ντοκιμαντέρ ενός εγκλήματος του Βασιλικού και Ζ του Γαβρά

Abstract

Vassilis Vassilikos' novel Z, fictional elaboration of an event which shocked the political life of Greece in 1963, the assassination of leftist politician Grigoris Lambrakis, was first published In series In the popular weekly magazine Ο Tachydromos in 1966 and immediately afterwards was published as a separate volume by the publishing house "Themelio". Ια 1967 it was banned in Greece by the dictatorship of the colonels, but soon started to be translated to one language after another. In 1969 it was adapted for the screen by Costa Gavras, as a French-Algerian co-production, with a screenplay by Jorge Semprun, a musical score by Mikis Theodorakis and a cast including Jean-Louis Trintignant, Yves Montand and Irene Papas: The film was an international hit, both commercially and artistically, giving a new boost to the sales of the novel and bringing Vassilikos, Gavras and junta-occupied Greece in the epicenter of international interest. The paper will attempt to draw a systematic comparison between the Vassilikos' novel and the Gavras' film, emphasizing on the dialogue between the two works and their objective (literary and cinematical) virtues, apart from their indisputable value as historical documents which record and comment upon the political passions of a turbulent period In modern Greek History. Other issues which will be marginally discussed are the connection of the two works to the fight against the military regime of the period 1967-1974 and their critical reception In Greece and abroad.