Zorba the Greek

Whereupon Zorba cuts him off with the classic: " What do you mean you don't want trouble? What is life but to take of your belt and go looking for trouble! "

Besides, as Zorba further enlightens him, God, who is very merciful, will forgive many sins. But there is one sin He will not forgive: When a woman calls a man to her bed and he will not come . . .
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Anthony Quinn plays Zorba, a man who lives through tragedy by women, dance, music and madness. He has surrendered to all the beauty and horror of life and embraces whatever comes his way.

Alan Bates plays Basil, the bookish and reserved Brit who becomes both Zorba's boss and unwitting pupil after an accidental meeting brings them together during a storm on the way to Crete.

This is the simple premise which sets up one of the greatest novels and greatest films of the century, Nikos Kazantsakis's most popular work; "Zorba the Greek"

Quinn and Bates are phenomenal. Never better. The supporting cast is also superb. Perfect casting, subtle directing and a wonderful musical score.

The plot revolves around Bates trying to get an abandoned coal mine in the backwoods of Greece to produce. He's inherited it and if he can't make a go at it, then it's back to dreary old England and writing essays for a living.

Zorba, whose nickname is 'catastrophe' becomes his foreman. They interact with a young widow, an aging French hotel keeper--who was once a great beauty, and villagers that are straight out of the Dark Ages.

"Interact " is a weak word. Both heaven and hell breaks loose in this gripping tale.

It's a paean to lunacy. To the necessity to be 'a little mad' in order to find the courage to break the chains that bind us.

A forgotten gem. Told with savage humor and great compassion. Another sacrament of the cinema.

Enjoy!

Lila Kedrova is also great in a supporting role that won her an Academy Award. She plays an aging French woman who runs the hotel in Crete where Quinn and the Englishman, played by Alan Bates, go to work a mine that Bates has inherited. She is sad, funny and flirtatious all at the same time, and my heart went out to her plight. Quinn romances her and I could understand the relationship between these two people who both live their lives to the fullest.

The film has a message. And that is to find joy in life. It's a good message and that's why this film is a classic.

However, I can't understand why it was filmed in black and white. If ever a film needed color, this one did. And even though Irene Pappas is given star billing, her time on the screen, as the widow who appeals to the Englishman, is very little. I found her performance rather wooden as I did the performance of Bates. But, after all, that was the role Bates was cast in. Pappas should have been stronger.

I was disturbed by the basic story, which depicted some terrible cruelty by the townspeople. And the Englishman's role of just standing by and doing nothing, even though he was the cause of much of it, was disappointing. Bates' expression mostly stayed the same throughout it all, that of being overwhelmed. And his face showed no acknowledgment of the horror.

I still recommend this film however - if only to see Quinn at this best. And to try to grasp the essence of life that Zorba the Greek tries to impart.