Costa-Gavras' fiery conspiracy thriller Z won the Best Foreign Language Film Oscar in 1970. That same year, the X-rated Midnight Cowboy won Best Picture. The Academy hasn't been as daring (or as interesting) since. Based on the real-life 1963 assassination of a Greek politician, Z is a pulse-pounding procedural that pieces together the murder of a left-wing youth leader (Yves Montand). A baroque government cover-up is foiled by a tenacious inspector (Jean- Louis Trintignant) whose rat-a-tat interrogations are like machine-gun fire. This is an amazing film, and the new transfer is an advertisement for cinematographer Raoul Coutard's Mediterranean-hued palette. New interviews with Costa-Gavras and Coutard are included on the EXTRAS, as is a dry commentary from a stuffy British film historian. A
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