(1964)
4
Michael Betzold
A big, brash, popular movie featuring a one-of-a-kind, larger-than-life performance from Anthony Quinn, Zorba the Greek became famous as much for its catchy, pseudo-ethnic pop music as for its dramatic excesses. Long and somewhat bloated, the entertaining epic is mostly about the relationship between a young British writer (Alan Bates) and the older, gregarious Greek laborer who dominates his stay at his father's mine in Crete. Its main attraction is its zesty, colorful, stunningly photographed examination of an all-embracing Greek culture. Romance, passion, food, drink, song, and grand ideas are all served up with an irresistible flavor in this British production that attracted audiences worldwide, but especially in the United States, where it garnered five Oscar nominations in the same year as My Fair Lady and Mary Poppins. Lila Kedrova won a Best Supporting Actress Oscar as Zorba's courtesan, and cinematographer Walter Lassally also took home a statue.
cast-crew for Zorba the Greek on AllMovie
Zorba the Greek (1964)
