This film could easily be retitled as The Misadventures of Zorba and Basil. Perhaps that would be a bit more accurate of a title than Zorba the Greek, as by the time the end credits are rolling, we know almost as much about the backstory of Zorba as we did in the beginning. This Greek wanderer and, to a degree, conman is as much a cipher at the end as he is at the beginning. He’s also unpredictable, too. He claims in his introductory scene to be a chaotic source, yet his enthusiasm not only wins over the protagonist, Basil, but it wins us over, too, against our better judgement. Throughout the course of this film, there will be numerous things that Zorba does that should put us off to him, yet we never are. Zorba is like a sickness we cannot bring ourselves to kick. Ultimately, we are left with the whole world around us destroyed while we laugh and dance in the ruins.
The film began life as The Life and Times of Alexis Zorba by Nikos Kazantzakis, first published in 1946. This novel was adapted into the film, Zorba the Greek, which was later adapted into a stage musical and a BBC radio play. This story was allegedly inspired by, but fictionalized, the life of George Zorbas, a Greek mine worker. While the inspiration may have come from George Zorbas, none of the actual life details of the man made it into the novel nor the subsequent adaptations. Instead, what was produced is more a tale about the meaning of life, the importance of frivolity over seriousness, and the need to laugh and dance whenever life becomes too downtrodden. While all of these things can help a person during trying times, as with all things, there needs to be temperance. Zorba represents the opposite of that: indulgence.
The film opens with Basil (Alan Bates), an introverted young man who is traveling to Crete. Basil is a middle-class Greek-British author raised in the UK. While waiting for a ferry to Crete at the Athens port of Piraeus, he meets Zorba (Anthony Quinn), a middle-aged peasant who carries nothing more than a santouri in a case, in stark contrast to Basil who has many cases of stuff including several just of books. Basil is instantly drawn in by Zorba and explains that he owns land in Crete which includes a lignite mine. His goal is to reopen the mine and, in the process, ideally cure his writer’s block. Zorba, having already related his experience as a miner, convinces Basil to offer him a position as foreman and factotum of the mine.
The Cretan village where the mine is located is impoverished, but the people living there greet the two with enthusiasm, including a former French cabaret dancer named Madame Hortense (Lila Kedrova), who eagerly conveys her past as a courtesan during the struggle for power amongst the competing Mediterranean leaders. Zorba tries to convince Basil to romance the lonely older woman—to seize the day as it were— but Basil finds this opportunistic mentality to be far too cynical.
In the village is an unnamed widow woman (Irene Papas), whom the village men are in love with, especially a young local boy. But the widow has spurned all these advances. Zorba perceives that she has eyes for Basil, though, and again tries to persuade him to seize the day. Basil once again refuses. In the meantime, work in the mine comes to a halt because of faulty timbers and a cave-in. Zorba comes up with a plan involving subterfuge and an elaborate build to supply timbers to the mine, but because he is Zorba, things won’t go exactly as planned.
This is a surprisingly breezy film to sit through despite the rather lengthy runtime. Anthony Quinn’s performance is a big part of that. He is energetic, full of life, and rarely takes things too seriously. When he does, though, it is usually because of a death, a subject he is intimately acquainted with. He speaks of the atrocities he committed during the battles with the Turks and the Bulgarians, murder and rape amongst them. He feels he was justified in these actions because of who they were.
There are two instances of death seen on screen during the course of the film. The first is the unnamed widow. This death is the most vicious of the two and comes at the hands of the villagers, themselves. When Basil and the widow finally do consummate a physical relationship, the news travels fast through the village. This leads to the aforementioned young man killing himself in despair. The villagers, and especially the young man’s father, surround the widow in the streets and begin to stone her with rocks, as much for the boys death as their disdain for her being physically intimate with someone after her husband’s death. Then several of the men bring out knives. Basil, horrified but unable to bring himself to physically intervene, calls for Zorba. Zorba prevents the men from killing her only for the father of the young man to sneak in and cut her throat. This leads to a scene between Zorba and Basil where the former questions the very nature of death.
Zorba: “Why do the young die? Why does anyone die?”
Basil: “I don’t know.”
Zorba: “What’s the use of all your damn books if they can’t answer that?”
Basil: “They tell me about the agony of men who can’t answer questions like yours.”
Zorba: “I spit on this agony.”
Later, though, when Madame Hortense contracts pneumonia and dies, Zorba is more callous about it. The villagers storm her home and steal nearly everything she had, leaving behind just her parrot and her dead body. She will not be permitted a proper burial because she was a Frank. When Basil questions Zorba on his attitude about it, Zorba says that she is dead and what happens to her body doesn’t matter to her anymore. It’s a surprisingly harsh outlook coming from the usually jovial man.
This is a film filled with witticism and humorous dialogue, yet it often has a melancholy feel to it. Filming this in black-and-white adds to that overall tone. The movie ends on a humorous tone, though. Zorba, through some dubious means, has secured supplies and built a way to transport wood down the side of a mountain and into the village. The citizens have all gathered to see this new wonder. Yet it immediately begins to fall apart and endanger everyone there. In the rubble, Basil and Zorba reflect for a moment on the failure, then end in a fit of laughter and dancing on the now deserted shore. It’s Zorba’s response to nearly every catastrophe he has been involved in and is responsible for.
While it isn’t as well remembered now as it was in the 60s, Zorba the Greek is still a fascinating film to delve into. It was filmed on location in Greece, which really sells the authenticity of it all. It also allowed for native Greeks to fill out the supporting cast, which goes a long way towards building the illusion on screen. This film was so popular when it released that it made more than three times the needed cash to break even. For fans of classic films, especially those that sprang up during the tail end of the studio system and the start of the counter-culture movement, Zorba the Greek is simply a must-see.
Academy Award Nominations:
Best Picture: Michael Cacoyannis
Best Director: Michael Cacoyannis
Best Adapted Screenplay: Michael Cacoyannis
Best Actor: Anthony Quinn
Best Supporting Actress: Lila Kedrova (won)
Best Art Direction - Black-and-White: Vassilis Photopoulos (won)
Best Cinematography - Black-and-White: Walter Lassally (won)
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Release Date: December 17, 1964
Running Time: 142 minutes
Not Rated
Starring: Anthony Quinn, Alan Bates, Irene Papas, Lila Kedrova, Sotiris Moustakas, and Anna Kyriakou
Directed By: Michael Cacoyannis
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