Word: zorba
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Producer Alexander Cohen and Greek Director Michael (Zorba the Greek) Cacoyannis are bringing in The Devils, an adaptation of Aldous Huxley's The Devils of Loudun. With Jason Robards as the 17th century priest and Anne Bancroft as the prioress whose lurid accusations lead him to the stake, theater parties are buying early...
This century is likely to expire before qualified men find Nikos Kazantzakis' true place in the pantheon of literature. His claims on greatness must await the patient perspective of time. He wrote eight novels, of which three-Zorba the Greek, The Greek Passion and Freedom or Death-are well known...
Report to Greco illuminates Kazantzakis' life in the way that lightning illuminates the dark. A sudden flash, and there stands that lusty old goat Zorba, the flesh-and-blood model for Kazantzakis' most successful novel, who taught him "to love life and have no fear of death." Another flash reveals the writer in the throes of creation, dipping his pen into his own blood: "Writing may have been a game in other ages. Today it is a grave duty, to proclaim a state of mobilization, to urge men to do their utmost to surpass the beast...
...other influences on Kazantzakis' thought pale before the figure of Alexis Zorba, and Kazantzakis' final judgment of life coincides with his: "Greetings, man, you little two-legged plucked cock! It's really true (don't listen to what others say): if you don't crow in the morning, the sun does not come...
While nominated for an Academy Award in this country, Zorba the Greek has been poorly received in Europe, particularly in Greece where crowds have stormed the theatres in protest. Apparently the Greeks do not like to see their national character portrayed as the personification of animal instinct. The novel by Niklos Kazantzakis, on which the film was based, achieves a balance between the central characters so that a meaningful contrast can take place. The movie lacks that balance and so lapses into sentimentality. So fresh and unusual, with such vigorous acting and directing, if this film fails...