On the occasion of the premiere of its film El Último Suspiro, the Instituto Francés de Madrid pays tribute to Costa-Gavras with a special retrospective of four of his emblematic films. This retrospective will begin next Monday, April 21 at 7.30 pm, followed by the screening of the film Z, a thriller that won two Oscars: Best Editing and Best Foreign Language Film in 1970. Tickets can be purchased at this link.
Written by Costa-Gavras and Jorge Semprún, the film is starring Yves Montand, Jean-Louis Trintignant and Irène Papas.
In a country ruled by a corrupt democracy, where the government uses the police and the army to eradicate any left-wing threat, an opposition deputy is killed in the middle of the street when he had just presided over a peace rally. The case is being investigated by a young magistrate, who knows that it is a political crime committed by two hired assassins. At the same time, an ambitious journalist will use unorthodox methods to gather evidence that incriminates several members of a far-right party, who in turn attribute responsibility for the attack to senior police and army officials.
A great political filmmaker since Z (1969), Costa-Gavras has never stopped exploring the grey areas of our societies. Whether imagining the disappearance of an American journalist in Chile in Missing (1982), the rise of fascism in Music Box (1989) or the dehumanization of the world of work in Arcadia (2005), his films combine the intimate and the political.
Throughout his career, Costa-Gavras has explored various genres while maintaining his commitment to cinema as a social and political reflection, and he has played an important role in the preservation of film heritage as president of the Cinémathèque Française.
In March, he received a César d’Honneur from actress Karin Viard, who described him as “a man who has never been afraid to challenge the powerful. When you work with him, he is a friend who welcomes you to his table,” he said. He concluded his tribute by saying, “Thank you Costa for showing that you can make movies with fervour, spirit and impact. Sometimes one film is enough to change the world”.
