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• Zorba the Greek

  • Dashiell Barnes
  • 8/21/12

  A fine, overlooked & unforgettable gem. Quinn gives the performance of his lifetime as the title character, Bates & Papas are good enough and Kedrova won a Best Supporting Actress Academy Award. The film recieved wins for it's Production Design & Photography in striking B/W, bringing life into a great, but overlong story. Definitly a film worth seeing from time-to-time. I give it a 4/5.

• "Why did God give us hands? To grab!"

  • Jeff Boston
  • 8/20/12

  Very boring movie, save the disgusting and depressing death scenes (I agree with Muriel). Quinn and Papas were more agreeable Greeks in "The Guns of Naverone" three years earlier. The zither music, Oscar winning B&W cinematography, and the fact "Zorba the Greek" was set in Europe reminded me of "The Third Man," and the scene with the stiff male protagonist walking toward the approaching woman in mourning definitely pays homage to the earlier, better film. The amoral (TCM's current, fitting description) Zorba has the unique ability to live instead of merely exist. Indeed, "a man needs a little madness, or he never dares cut the rope and be free."

• I don't get the fuss (Spoiler Alert!)

  • muriel
  • 8/20/12

  This is a depressing and fatalistic movie. Well acted, great actors. But what a mean story! One woman is murdered for stepping outside the village norm, another woman's house is robbed by her neighbors as she lays dying. Zorba may be an eye opener for the timid englishman, who certainly learns a lot about life, and how to deal with bad luck, but hardly uplifting that's for sure. The famous last scene where they dance is an iconic cinematic moment, but it hardly matters in the context of the entire story and the mean things that happen.

• A Fabulous Film

  • LS
  • 8/14/12

  This film says a lot about the meaning of life and of tragedy. The music score is exhilarating (I always have to get up and dance with them, at the end). Alan Bates and Anthony Quinn are outstanding, as is Irene Pappas, and the rest of the supporting cast. I think this film is outstanding, though a bit "deep". You have to concentrate to understand its nuances of character. This story beautifully illustrates the responsibilities of friendship, and the struggles of faith amidst the vagaries of fate.

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