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''Zorba the Greek'' ( el, Αλέξης Ζορμπάς, ''Alexis Zorbas'') is a 1964
comedy-drama Comedy drama, also known by the portmanteau ''dramedy'', is a genre of dramatic works that combines elements of comedy and drama. The modern, scripted-television examples tend to have more humorous bits than simple comic relief seen in a typical ...
film written, produced, edited, and directed by Greek Cypriot filmmaker
Michael Cacoyannis Michael Cacoyannis ( el, Μιχάλης Κακογιάννης, ''Michalis Kakogiannis''; 11 June 1922 – 25 July 2011), sometimes credited as Michael Yannis, was a Greek Cypriots, Greek Cypriot theatre and film director, writer, produce ...
. It stars
Anthony Quinn Manuel Antonio Rodolfo Quinn Oaxaca (April 21, 1915 – June 3, 2001), known professionally as Anthony Quinn, was a Mexican-American actor. He was known for his portrayal of earthy, passionate characters "marked by a brutal and elemental v ...
as the titular character, an earthy and boisterous peasant in
Crete Crete ( el, Κρήτη, translit=, Modern: , Ancient: ) is the largest and most populous of the Greek islands, the 88th largest island in the world and the fifth largest island in the Mediterranean Sea, after Sicily, Sardinia, Cyprus, and ...
, and
Alan Bates Sir Alan Arthur Bates (17 February 1934 – 27 December 2003) was an English actor who came to prominence in the 1960s, when he appeared in films ranging from the popular children's story '' Whistle Down the Wind'' to the " kitchen sink" dram ...
as the buttoned-up young intellectual he befriends. The cast also includes
Lila Kedrova Yelizaveta Nikolaevna Kedrova (Russian: Елизавета Николаевна Кедрова; 9 October 1909 – 16 February 2000), known as Lila Kedrova, was a Russian-born French actress. She won the Academy Award for Best Supporting Actre ...
,
Irene Papas Irene Papas or Irene Pappas ( el, Ειρήνη Παππά, Eiríni Pappá, ; born Eirini Lelekou ( el, Ειρήνη Λελέκου, Eiríni Lelékou, link=no); 3 September 1929 – 14 September 2022) was a Greek actress and singer who starred ...
, and
Sotiris Moustakas Sotiris Moustakas ( el, Σωτήρης Μουστάκας) (17 September 1940 – 4 June 2007) was a Greek Cypriot actor born in Kato Platres, Limassol. His acting career lasted for over four decades, with 1960s–80s as his most successful y ...
. The musical score was composed by
Mikis Theodorakis Michail "Mikis" Theodorakis ( el, Μιχαήλ "Μίκης" Θεοδωράκης ; 29 July 1925 – 2 September 2021) was a Greek composer and lyricist credited with over 1,000 works. He Film score, scored for the films ''Zorba the Greek (film) ...
. The film is based on the 1946 novel '' The Life And Times Of Alexis Zorba'' by
Nikos Kazantzakis Nikos Kazantzakis ( el, ; 2 March ( OS 18 February) 188326 October 1957) was a Greek writer. Widely considered a giant of modern Greek literature, he was nominated for the Nobel Prize in Literature in nine different years. Kazantzakis's no ...
. Produced in Greece for under $1 million, ''Zorba'' was a considerable critical and commercial success, grossing over nine times its production budget at the U.S. box office alone. At the
37th Academy Awards The 37th Academy Awards honored film achievements of 1964. For the first time, an award was presented in the field of makeup. The Best Picture winner of 1964, director George Cukor's ''My Fair Lady'', was about the transformative training o ...
, the film won awards for Best Supporting Actress (Kedrova), Best Cinematography and Best Art Direction. Other nominations included
Best Picture This is a list of categories of awards commonly awarded through organizations that bestow film awards, including those presented by various film, festivals, and people's awards. Best Actor/Best Actress *See Best Actor#Film awards, Best Actress#F ...
,
Best Director Best Director is the name of an award which is presented by various film, television and theatre organizations, festivals, and people's awards. It may refer to: Film awards * AACTA Award for Best Direction * Academy Award for Best Director * BA ...
, and Best Actor for Anthony Quinn, whose performance has been cited as one of the most iconic in film history, and which spawned the folkdance known as the
sirtaki Sirtaki or syrtaki ( el, συρτάκι) is a dance of Greek origin, choreographed for the 1964 film ''Zorba the Greek''. It is a recent Greek folkdance, and a mixture of "syrtos" and the slow and fast rhythms of the hasapiko dance. The dance ...
. The film and its source novel were later adapted into a
Tony Tony may refer to: People and fictional characters * Tony (given name), including a list of people and fictional characters * Gregory Tony (born 1978), American law enforcement officer * Motu Tony (born 1981), New Zealand international rugby leagu ...
-winning
stage musical Musical theatre is a form of theatrical performance that combines songs, spoken dialogue, acting and dance. The story and emotional content of a musical – humor, pathos, love, anger – are communicated through words, music, movement ...
, which Cacoyannis, Quinn, and Kedrova all participated in.


Cast

*
Anthony Quinn Manuel Antonio Rodolfo Quinn Oaxaca (April 21, 1915 – June 3, 2001), known professionally as Anthony Quinn, was a Mexican-American actor. He was known for his portrayal of earthy, passionate characters "marked by a brutal and elemental v ...
as Alexis Zorba ( el, Αλέξης Ζορμπάς), a fictionalized version of the mine worker
George Zorbas Georgios Zorbas ( el, Γεώργιoς Ζορμπάς; 1865 September 16, 1941) was a Greek miner upon whom Nikos Kazantzakis based Alexis Zorbas, the protagonist of his 1946 novel ''Zorba the Greek''. Biography Georgios Zorbas was born in 1865 a ...
( el, Γιώργης Ζορμπάς 1867–1942) *
Alan Bates Sir Alan Arthur Bates (17 February 1934 – 27 December 2003) was an English actor who came to prominence in the 1960s, when he appeared in films ranging from the popular children's story '' Whistle Down the Wind'' to the " kitchen sink" dram ...
as Basil *
Irene Papas Irene Papas or Irene Pappas ( el, Ειρήνη Παππά, Eiríni Pappá, ; born Eirini Lelekou ( el, Ειρήνη Λελέκου, Eiríni Lelékou, link=no); 3 September 1929 – 14 September 2022) was a Greek actress and singer who starred ...
as the Widow *
Lila Kedrova Yelizaveta Nikolaevna Kedrova (Russian: Елизавета Николаевна Кедрова; 9 October 1909 – 16 February 2000), known as Lila Kedrova, was a Russian-born French actress. She won the Academy Award for Best Supporting Actre ...
as Madame Hortense *
Sotiris Moustakas Sotiris Moustakas ( el, Σωτήρης Μουστάκας) (17 September 1940 – 4 June 2007) was a Greek Cypriot actor born in Kato Platres, Limassol. His acting career lasted for over four decades, with 1960s–80s as his most successful y ...
as Mimithos * Anna Kyriakou as Soul * Eleni Anousaki as Lola * George Voyadjis as Pavlo * Takis Emmanuel as Manolakas * George Foundas as Mavrandoni *
Pia Lindström Friedel Pia Lindström (born 20 September 1938) is a Swedish television journalist, and the first child of actress Ingrid Bergman. Life and career Lindström is the only child born to Ingrid Bergman and her first husband, Swedish neurosurgeon ...
(deleted scenes) as Peasant girl


Plot

Basil is a Greek-British writer raised in the UK who bears the hallmarks of an uptight, middle-class Englishman. He is waiting at the
Athens Athens ( ; el, Αθήνα, Athína ; grc, Ἀθῆναι, Athênai (pl.) ) is both the capital and largest city of Greece. With a population close to four million, it is also the seventh largest city in the European Union. Athens dominates ...
port of
Piraeus Piraeus ( ; el, Πειραιάς ; grc, Πειραιεύς ) is a port city within the Athens urban area ("Greater Athens"), in the Attica region of Greece. It is located southwest of Athens' city centre, along the east coast of the Saronic ...
on mainland Greece to catch a boat to
Crete Crete ( el, Κρήτη, translit=, Modern: , Ancient: ) is the largest and most populous of the Greek islands, the 88th largest island in the world and the fifth largest island in the Mediterranean Sea, after Sicily, Sardinia, Cyprus, and ...
when he meets a gruff, yet enthusiastic Greek-Macedonian peasant and musician named Zorba. Basil explains to Zorba that he is traveling to a rural Cretan village where his father owns some land, with the intention of reopening a
Lignite Lignite, often referred to as brown coal, is a soft, brown, combustible, sedimentary rock formed from naturally compressed peat. It has a carbon content around 25–35%, and is considered the lowest rank of coal due to its relatively low heat ...
mine and perhaps curing his writer's block. Zorba relates his experience with mining and persuades Basil to take him along. When they arrive at Crete, they take a car to the village where they are greeted enthusiastically by the town's impoverished peasant community. They stay with an old French former courtesan named Madame Hortense in her self-styled "Hotel Ritz". The audacious Zorba tries to persuade Basil into making a move on Madame Hortense, but when he is reluctant, Zorba seizes the opportunity, and they form a relationship. Over the next few days, Basil and Zorba attempt to work the old lignite mine, but find it unsafe and shut it down. Zorba then has an idea to use the forest in the nearby mountains for logging, (his specific plan is left ambiguous, but it seems he thinks the timber can be used to shore up the tunnels). The land is owned by a monastery, so Zorba visits and befriends the monks, getting them drunk. Afterwards, he comes home to Basil and begins to dance in a way that mesmerizes Basil. Meanwhile, Basil and Zorba get their first introduction to "the Widow", a young and attractive widowed woman, who is teased incessantly by the townspeople for not remarrying, especially to a young local boy who is madly in love with her, but whom she has spurned repeatedly. One rainy afternoon, Basil offers her his umbrella, which she reluctantly takes. Zorba suggests that she is attracted to him, but Basil, ever shy, denies this and refuses to pursue the widow. Basil hands Zorba some money, and sends him off to the large town of
Chania Chania ( el, Χανιά ; vec, La Canea), also spelled Hania, is a city in Greece and the capital of the Chania regional unit. It lies along the north west coast of the island Crete, about west of Rethymno and west of Heraklion. The muni ...
, where Zorba is to buy cable and other supplies for the implementation of his grand plan. Zorba says goodbye to Basil and Madame Hortense, who is by now madly in love with him. In Chania, Zorba entertains himself at a cabaret and has a brief romance with a much younger dancer. In a letter to Basil, he details his exploits and indicates that he has found love. Angered by Zorba's apparent irresponsibility and the squandering of his money, Basil untruthfully tells Madame Hortense that Zorba has declared his love to her and intends to marry her upon his return, which makes her ecstatic to the point of tears. Meanwhile, the Widow returns Basil's umbrella by way of Mimithos, the village idiot. When Zorba eventually returns with supplies and gifts, he is surprised and angered to hear of Basil's lie to Madame Hortense. He also asks Basil about his whereabouts the night before. That night, Basil had gone to the Widow's house and spent the night. The brief encounter comes at great cost. A villager catches sight of them, and word spreads, and the young local boy who is in love with the Widow is told about it. The next morning, the villagers find his body by the sea, where he has drowned himself out of shame. The boy's father, Mavrandoni, holds a funeral which the villagers attend. The widow attempts to come inconspicuously, but is blocked from entering the church. She is eventually trapped in the courtyard, then beaten and stoned by the villagers, who hold her responsible for the boy's suicide. Basil tells Mimithos to fetch Zorba. Zorba arrives just as a villager, a friend of the boy, tries to kill the widow with a knife. Zorba overpowers the much younger man and disarms him. Thinking that the situation is under control, Zorba asks the Widow to follow him and turns his back. At that moment, the dead boy's father pulls his knife and cuts the widow's throat. She dies at once, as the villagers shuffle away apathetically, whisking the father away. Only Basil, Zorba and Mimithos show any emotion over her murder. Basil proclaims his inability to intervene whereupon Zorba laments the futility of death. On a rainy day, Basil and Zorba come home and find Madame Hortense waiting. She expresses anger at Zorba for making no progress on the wedding. Zorba conjures up a story that he had ordered a white satin wedding dress, lined with pearls and adorned with real gold. Madame Hortense presents two golden rings she had made and proposes their immediate engagement. Zorba tries to stall, but eventually agrees with gusto, to Basil's surprise. Some time later, Madame Hortense has contracted pneumonia, and is seen on her deathbed. Zorba stays by her side, along with Basil. Meanwhile, word has spread that "the foreigner" is dying, and since she has no heirs, the State will take her possessions and money. The poor villagers crowd around her hotel, impatiently waiting for her demise so they can steal her belongings. As two old ladies enter her room and gaze expectantly at her, other women try to enter, but Zorba manages to fight them off. At the instant of her death, the women re-enter Madame Hortense's bedroom ''en masse'' to steal her valued possessions. Zorba leaves with a sigh, as the hotel is ransacked and stripped bare by the shrieking and excited villagers. When Zorba returns to Madame Hortense's bedroom, the room is barren apart from her bed (where she lies) and the parrot in her cage. Zorba takes the birdcage with him. Finally, Zorba's elaborate contraption to transport timber down the hill is complete. A festive ceremony, including lamb on a spit, is held, and all the villagers turn out. After a blessing from the priests, Zorba signals the start by firing a rifle in the air. A log comes hurtling down the zip line at a worrying pace, destroying the log itself and slightly damaging part of the contraption. Zorba remains unconcerned and gives orders for a second log. This one also speeds down and shoots straight into the sea. By now the villagers and priests have grown fearful and head for cover. Zorba remains unfazed and orders a third log, which accelerates downhill with such violence that it dislodges the entire contraption, destroying everything. The villagers flee, leaving Basil and Zorba behind. Basil and Zorba sit by the shore to eat roasted lamb. Zorba pretends to tell the future from the lamb shank, saying that he foresees a great journey to a big city. He then asks Basil directly when he plans to leave, and Basil replies that he will leave in a few days. Zorba declares his sadness about Basil's imminent departure to England and tells Basil that he is missing madness. Basil asks Zorba to teach him to dance. Zorba teaches him the
sirtaki Sirtaki or syrtaki ( el, συρτάκι) is a dance of Greek origin, choreographed for the 1964 film ''Zorba the Greek''. It is a recent Greek folkdance, and a mixture of "syrtos" and the slow and fast rhythms of the hasapiko dance. The dance ...
and Basil begins to laugh hysterically at the catastrophic outcome. The story ends with both men enthusiastically dancing the sirtaki on the beach.


Production

The film was shot in
black and white Black-and-white (B&W or B/W) images combine black and white in a continuous spectrum, producing a range of shades of grey. Media The history of various visual media began with black and white, and as technology improved, altered to color. ...
on location on the
Greek island Greece has many islands, with estimates ranging from somewhere around 1,200 to 6,000, depending on the minimum size to take into account. The number of inhabited islands is variously cited as between 166 and 227. The largest Greek island by a ...
of
Crete Crete ( el, Κρήτη, translit=, Modern: , Ancient: ) is the largest and most populous of the Greek islands, the 88th largest island in the world and the fifth largest island in the Mediterranean Sea, after Sicily, Sardinia, Cyprus, and ...
. Specific locations featured include the city of
Chania Chania ( el, Χανιά ; vec, La Canea), also spelled Hania, is a city in Greece and the capital of the Chania regional unit. It lies along the north west coast of the island Crete, about west of Rethymno and west of Heraklion. The muni ...
, the village of Kokkino Chorio in the
Apokoronas Apokoronas ( el, Αποκόρωνας) is a municipality and a former province (επαρχία) in the Chania regional unit, north-west Crete, Greece. It is situated on the north coast of Crete, to the east of Chania itself. The seat of the munici ...
region and Stavros beach in the Akrotiri
peninsula A peninsula (; ) is a landform that extends from a mainland and is surrounded by water on most, but not all of its borders. A peninsula is also sometimes defined as a piece of land bordered by water on three of its sides. Peninsulas exist on all ...
. The scene in which Quinn's character dances the Sirtaki was filmed on the beach of the village of Stavros.
Simone Signoret Simone Signoret (; born Simone Henriette Charlotte Kaminker; 25 March 1921 – 30 September 1985) was a French actress. She received various accolades, including an Academy Award, three BAFTA Awards, a César Award, a Primetime Emmy Award, a ...
began filming the role of Madame Hortense;
Lila Kedrova Yelizaveta Nikolaevna Kedrova (Russian: Елизавета Николаевна Кедрова; 9 October 1909 – 16 February 2000), known as Lila Kedrova, was a Russian-born French actress. She won the Academy Award for Best Supporting Actre ...
replaced her early in the production.


Reception


Box office

The film was a smash hit. Produced on a budget of only $783,000, it grossed $9 million at the U.S. box office,Box Office Information for ''Zorba the Greek''.
The Numbers. Retrieved 19 May 2013.
earning $4.4 million in U.S. theatrical rentals. At the worldwide box office, the film earned $9.4 million in rentals, placing the worldwide gross between $18.8 million to $23.5 million. It was the 17th highest-grossing film of 1964. According to Fox records, the film needed to earn $3,000,000 in rentals to break even and made $9,400,000. By September 1970 it earned the studio an estimated profit of $2,565,000.Silverman p 259


Critical response

The film has an 86% rating at
Rotten Tomatoes Rotten Tomatoes is an American review-aggregation website for film and television. The company was launched in August 1998 by three undergraduate students at the University of California, Berkeley: Senh Duong, Patrick Y. Lee, and Stephen Wang ...
. On both sides of the Atlantic, ''Zorba'' was applauded and Quinn came in for the best reviews. He was lauded as Zorba, along with the other stars, including Greek-born Papas, who worked with Quinn on '' The Guns of Navarone''. Contemporary reviews were generally positive, with Anthony Quinn and Lila Kedrova receiving numerous accolades for their performances, although a few critics found fault with the screenplay.
Bosley Crowther Francis Bosley Crowther Jr. (July 13, 1905 – March 7, 1981) was an American journalist, writer, and film critic for ''The New York Times'' for 27 years. His work helped shape the careers of many actors, directors and screenwriters, though his ...
of ''
The New York Times ''The New York Times'' (''the Times'', ''NYT'', or the Gray Lady) is a daily newspaper based in New York City with a worldwide readership reported in 2020 to comprise a declining 840,000 paid print subscribers, and a growing 6 million paid ...
'' lauded Quinn for a "brilliant performance" and Kedrova for her "brilliantly realized" character, citing the only real weakness of the film as a lack of "significant conflict to prove its dominant character. Zorba is powerful and provocative, but nobody gets in his way." Margaret Harford of the ''
Los Angeles Times The ''Los Angeles Times'' (abbreviated as ''LA Times'') is a daily newspaper that started publishing in Los Angeles in 1881. Based in the LA-adjacent suburb of El Segundo since 2018, it is the sixth-largest newspaper by circulation in the Un ...
'' declared that the film would "stand among the year's best motion pictures, an unusual, engrossing effort" with spots both "outrageously funny" and "painfully sad and tragic." Richard L. Coe of ''
The Washington Post ''The Washington Post'' (also known as the ''Post'' and, informally, ''WaPo'') is an American daily newspaper published in Washington, D.C. It is the most widely circulated newspaper within the Washington metropolitan area and has a large nati ...
'' deemed it "a memorable picture" with a "bravura performance" from Quinn, adding that "Lila Kedrova as the dying Mme Hortense is spectacularly touching." ''
Variety Variety may refer to: Arts and entertainment Entertainment formats * Variety (radio) * Variety show, in theater and television Films * ''Variety'' (1925 film), a German silent film directed by Ewald Andre Dupont * ''Variety'' (1935 film), ...
'' found the film excessively long and overstuffed, writing that Cacoyannis's screenplay was "packed with incidents of varying moods, so packed, in fact, that some of the more important ones cannot be developed fully."
Brendan Gill Brendan Gill (October 4, 1914 – December 27, 1997) was an American journalist. He wrote for ''The New Yorker'' for more than 60 years. Gill also contributed film criticism for ''Film Comment'', wrote about design and architecture for Architectu ...
of ''
The New Yorker ''The New Yorker'' is an American weekly magazine featuring journalism, commentary, criticism, essays, fiction, satire, cartoons, and poetry. Founded as a weekly in 1925, the magazine is published 47 times annually, with five of these issues ...
'' wrote that Cacoyannis had directed the film with "enormous verve" but had written a "not very tidy, not very plausible screenplay." Gill particularly praised Kedrova's performance and thought that she "comes within an ace of stealing the picture from Quinn." ''
The Monthly Film Bulletin ''The Monthly Film Bulletin'' was a periodical of the British Film Institute published monthly from February 1934 to April 1991, when it merged with ''Sight & Sound''. It reviewed all films on release in the United Kingdom, including those with a ...
'' wrote that the film began well, but by the time the characters went to Crete "the pace slows to a crawl, and the narrative line becomes blurred in a series of unrelated incidents of doubtful significance." The review concluded that for all its length, "the film never gets down to a clear statement of its theme, or comes within measuring distance of its vast pretensions."


Awards and nominations

The film is recognized by
American Film Institute The American Film Institute (AFI) is an American nonprofit film organization that educates filmmakers and honors the heritage of the motion picture arts in the United States. AFI is supported by private funding and public membership fees. Leade ...
in these lists: * 2006: AFI's 100 Years...100 Cheers – Nominated


Preservation

The
Academy Film Archive The Academy Film Archive is part of the Academy Foundation, established in 1944 with the purpose of organizing and overseeing the Academy of Motion Picture Arts and Sciences’ educational and cultural activities, including the preservation of m ...
preserved ''Zorba the Greek'' in 2004.


In popular culture

In a January 15, 1968 ''
Peanuts ''Peanuts'' is a print syndication, syndicated daily strip, daily and Sunday strip, Sunday American comic strip written and illustrated by Charles M. Schulz. The strip's original run extended from 1950 to 2000, continuing in reruns afterward. ' ...
'' comic strip,
Snoopy Snoopy is an anthropomorphic beagle in the comic strip ''Peanuts'' by Charles M. Schulz. He can also be found in all of the ''Peanuts'' films and television specials. Since his debut on October 4, 1950, Snoopy has become one of the most recog ...
is happily dancing atop of his doghouse with
Lucy Lucy is an English feminine given name derived from the Latin masculine given name Lucius with the meaning ''as of light'' (''born at dawn or daylight'', maybe also ''shiny'', or ''of light complexion''). Alternative spellings are Luci, Luce, Lu ...
looking on until the final panel where she comments: "Zorba the Greek, you aren't!".


See also

* "
Zorbas "Zorba's Dance" ( el, Ο Χορός Του Ζορμπά) is an instrumental by Greek composer Mikis Theodorakis. The song featured for the dance, which has become known as sirtaki, in the 1964 film ''Zorba the Greek'', for which Theodorakis wrote ...
", the theme song of the film by Greek composer
Mikis Theodorakis Michail "Mikis" Theodorakis ( el, Μιχαήλ "Μίκης" Θεοδωράκης ; 29 July 1925 – 2 September 2021) was a Greek composer and lyricist credited with over 1,000 works. He Film score, scored for the films ''Zorba the Greek (film) ...
* ''
Zorba (musical) ''Zorba'' is a Musical theater, musical with a book by Joseph Stein, lyrics by Fred Ebb, and music by John Kander. Adapted from the 1946 novel ''Zorba the Greek (novel), Zorba the Greek'' by Nikos Kazantzakis and the subsequent 1964 Zorba the Gre ...
'', a musical based on the book


References


External links

* * * * {{DEFAULTSORT:Zorba The Greek (Film) 1964 films 1960s English-language films English-language Greek films 1960s Greek-language films 1964 comedy-drama films British black-and-white films British comedy-drama films Greek black-and-white films Greek comedy-drama films Greek multilingual films British multilingual films Adaptations of works by Nikos Kazantzakis Films about writers Films based on Greek novels Films directed by Michael Cacoyannis Films featuring a Best Supporting Actress Academy Award-winning performance Films set in Crete Films set in Greece Films set on beaches Films shot in Greece Films shot in Crete Films whose art director won the Best Art Direction Academy Award Films whose cinematographer won the Best Cinematography Academy Award 1964 in Greece 20th Century Fox films Films scored by Mikis Theodorakis 1964 comedy films 1964 drama films 1960s British films