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ABZORBING

I didn't write much about Zorba the Greek and why I think it such an outstanding film.

Sure, it was a vehicle for Anthony Quinn and he does his title job perfectly. But there is much more. The film is as rich with detail. It is high art.

At the core, there is the reliable conflict of id and superego. The unrestrained appetite and the uptight control.

Here it is the Greek who has the zest for living and the Brit, Alan Bates, who has the book learning and the rules.

Both are, in actuality, more or less, failures. They have not found a match for their temperaments in the world around them.

What is more, they lack friendship of any kind. They are loners.

They meet in a storm. By accident. There is the real storm. A delay of a ship. The internal storm of their own making. Emotional.

And so on.

This Freudian reading is very reliable. I learned it when I went to college and have applied it usefully ever since. None of us are immune from these paradigms because they are right. We identify with these characters because they are us. At war with ourselves.

Another layer we have here is Greek history. The old themes. Greek drama.

The village is the chorus. Life's realities are presented in stark form. Life and death.

OK. OK.

So this is all well and good but there are hundreds of films that have this shit underneath them. Why is this so appealing and so stirring?

Partly because of the story that binds the theme. The adventures. The little stuff. There is a lot of humor and pathos in the little moments.

There is also the counterbalance of the women. Both the characters and the actors.

Lila Kedrova comes in and out of the story as the frenchwoman who can tease the men away from their obsessions. She is light.

Then there is the widow. The great Greek actress, Irene Papas. All Darkness. The widow who will liberate Bate's sexually.

The women are characters with great depth.

Each has her own tragic story. Each could have their own film.

Like the men, the women, are loners. Not of the village. Apart. Almost outcasts.

Ah then, the village! The greek chorus. And a character in and of itself. The old women in their black shawls. The angry men with their stupid pride.

And on the surface? If you have not already had enough with the drama , we have a fascinating study of primitive Greece. The unforgiving nature of the land and its people. A wonderful travelogue.

All of a piece. Beautiful, beautiful film.

Labels: best films