New York Times Review of the Translation of Zorba the Greek by Peter Bien
Screen: 'Zorba, the Greek' Is at Sutton:Anthony Quinn Stars in Adaptation of Novel
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December 18, 1964
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IF ever the affluence of life force in man has been poured forth on the screen — and, goodness knows, many efforts to practice so have been made over the years—it is washed in the brilliant functioning given by Anthony Quinn in the title role of the movie that Michael Cacoyannis has made from Nikos Kazantzakis'southward classic novel, "Zorba, the Greek."Here, in i huge and bold portrayal of a rugged and weather-worn old Greek of uncertain age and origin, indefinite station and career, just of unmistakable cocky-possession and man authority, Mr. Quinn presents us with a motion-picture show of man equally he might exist in the globe were not so much with u.s.a. and civilization had not forced us into molds.His Zorb, in this tempestuous picture that opened yesterday at the Sutton, possesses all the energies and urges of the great ones of history and myth. He is Adam in the Garden of Eden, Odysseus on the windy plains of Troy. He is a little bit of Nijinsky and a expert scrap of Tom Jones.Love for all kindly fellow mortals surges in his chest. Detest and contempt for the mean ones flame in him like a roaring fire. Lust seizes him without resistance. Pathos moves him to tears. When the pressures pile up too much within him—either of joy or of sorrow—he must dance.To the cliché-accustomed moviegoer, this erstwhile tiger is likely to be as much of a surprise and confusion as he is to the mild immature Anglo-Greek to whom he attaches himself in the seaport of Piraeus at the start of the pic. We are not used to then much exuberance, and so much landslide persuasiveness any more than is the young boyfriend who takes on Zorba (or is taken on by him) to help in restoring an quondam lignite mine, inherited from his father, on the island of Crete.And the viewer is likely to be staggered and appalled all the way through the motion-picture show at the wildly ingenious, conceptions and attitudes of the former Greek. His greedy and gallant courtship of an ancient French courtesan who to a inexpensive lilliputian island hotel maintains her memories of conquests; his mad and irreverent maneuver to terrify a monastery total of monks into letting him cut a stand of tall trees off their isolated hillside to provide timbers for shoring up the mine; his spendthrift foray into a brothel and dalliance with a immature prostitute—these are grand scale adventures of Zorba that the viewer will not forget.So large and fantastic is the character that he all but overwhelms the total scene and tends to flatten, whatever personal conflicts and dramatic crises occur. This is something that Mr. Cacoyannis has not been able to foreclose. Nor does it appear that he really tried to, whatsoever more than than did Mr. Kazantzakis in writing his book.There are incidents, yes, when the meanness and ignorance of the people of Crete surge up like a menstruum of molten lava to confront Zorba's cheerfulness and forcefulness. I is when the fierce and aroused people rise up in vengeance to destroy a solitary widow who has dared bequeath her favor on Zorba's timid friend. The other is when the old women—the sometime ghouls—strip bare the room. and so the house in which Zorba's aged mistress has only died in his comforting arms.These are incidents that Mr. Cacoyannis has staged with such intense reality—as he has the whole of the moving-picture show—that they fairly paralyze the senses for brief spells. Zorba, too, staggers momentarily at such bestial displays. But he apace recovers from them, as he does from the ultimate collapse of the crazy cable railway he has constructed for bringing the logs downwards out of the hills. His easy solution for disaster is to go into his wild, defiant dance.This is the weakness of the picture—every bit a dramatic practise, that is. It lacks a pregnant disharmonize to show its dominant graphic symbol. Zorba is powerful and provocative, but nobody gets in his style. Nada provides competition, except mob rule for a moment—and the hand of death.The young Anglo-Greek is slightly wary only hands pushed around. He is little more than than a smirking straight-man, as played by Alan Bates. The former adult female of Lila Kedrova is brilliantly realized, a wrinkled and tacky relic of a one time successful coquette, stil hopeful, audacious and mettlesome. But she'due south just a passing incident.Irene Papas, who played Electra in Mr. Cacoyannis'due south memorable flick of the Euripides play, is nighttime and intense equally the widow, but she, also, is soon got out of the fashion. Several other Greek actors are exciting only transient equally people of Crete.Walter Lassally's unfiltered camera gets the difficult, barren look of the isle scene—the crowded villages, the stark, rocky shoreline and the sunbaked, wind-scoured hills. The musical score of Mikis Theodorakis rollicks and wails hauntingly. And the editing of Mr. Cacoyannis abets the pace of his direction perfectly.Simply out of the whole accumulation of colorfulness and vitality towers the singular, monumental portrait of Zorba, as evolved past Mr. Quinn. And information technology's this unforgettable portrait that justifies the film.Incidentally, the principal dialogue is in English—and very rich and racy it is!
The CastZORBA, THE GREEK, screenplay by Michael Cacoyannis, based on the novel by Nikos Kazantzakis; directed and produced by Mr. Cacoyannis; presented by 20th Century-Fox. At the Sutton Theater, Third Avenue and 37th Street. Running time: 142 minutes.Alexis Zorba . . . . . Anthony QuinnBasil . . . . . Alan BatesThe Widow . . . . . Irene PapasMadame Hortense . . . . . Lila KedrovaMavrandoni . . . . . George FoundasLola . . . . . Eleni AnousakiMimithos . . . . . Sotiris MoustakasManolakas . . . . . Takis EmmanuelPavlo . . . . . George VoyadjisSoul . . . . . Anna Kyriakou
Source: https://www.nytimes.com/1964/12/18/archives/screen-zorba-the-greek-is-at-suttonanthony-quinn-stars-in.html
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