Zorba the Greek

Revisiting this Academy Award–winning classic from 1964 is great fun, especially in a very fine black-and-white, widescreen Blu-ray edition that beautifully captures the sun, shadow, and grit. Based on Nikos Kazantzakis's bestselling novel, filmmaker Michael Cacoyannis's stirring drama stars Anthony Quinn as Zorba, a mysterious peasant with a compelling lust for life (born, we eventually discover, of pain and loss). Zorba persuades uptight Englishman Basil (Alan Bates) to take him along on a voyage from Greece to Crete, where Basil has inherited an abandoned mine that he wants to reopen. Arriving in a Cretan village, the larger-than-life Zorba and bookish Basil make an interesting pair as they blend in with the locals and establish fateful ties with two women. Basil is attracted to a beautiful widow (Irene Papas) who has remained aloof from other prospective suitors, while Zorba pursues a romance with Mme. Hortense (Lila Kedrova), an aging French courtesan. In a tale of grand passions, the cast is splendid, particularly Bates as a man trying to temper outsized feelings, and Quinn as a champion of beautiful madness. Extras include audio commentary by Cacoyannis and professor Demetrios Liappas, a Biography episode on Quinn, an alternate intro, and related “Movietone News” footage. Highly recommended. (T. Keogh)