Z | 2012
- Locations |
- Algeria
- DIRECTOR |
- Costa-Gavras
With prowling camera, urgent editing, mordant humour and a devastating sting in the tail, Costa-Gavras invents the political conspiracy thriller that’s become such a staple of the modern age.
The double Oscar-winning political thriller, though set in an unnamed country, was closely based on events in the director's homeland, Greece, but was made in Algeria.
The city of Algiers is photographed to be as anonymous as possible, but you'll recognise the grand theatre at which the bigwigs attend a performance by the Bolshoi Ballet as the Algerian National Theater Mahieddine Bachtarzi, 10 Rue Hadj Omar – formerly the Algiers Opera House.
Unlike today's litigation-conscious productions which go to great lengths to assure us that any resemblance to persons living or dead is purely coincidental, Z boldly states: "Any similarity to real persons and events is not coincidental. It is intentional."
