Trintignant & Co: The Film Series • Z (1969, Costa-Gavras)

“In the United States, this Algerian-French coproduction sparked a sensation, not just relaying the European political crisis but perfectly capturing a global mood of apprehension at a moment when America was at its most vulnerable, our domestic security seemingly breached by the consecutive concussive shocks of our own political assassinations (John F. Kennedy, Malcolm X, Dr. Martin Luther King, Robert F. Kennedy).” - Armond White for The Criterion Collection

A glass of Bourgogne Louis Jadot, our favorite French wine, included. Enter for a chance to win Sofitel’s Le Bar gift certificate at each screening.

Z (1969, Costa-Gavras, 126 min.)

TRINTIGNANT / Yves MONTAND

A performance earning Jean-Louis Trintignant Best Actor at Cannes and accolades including two Academy Awards, this political thriller was one of the cinematic sensations of the late sixties. The kinetic editing, provocative score and masterful performances create an undeniably gripping story.

Greek expatriate director Costa-Gavras’s Z tells a story loosely based on the 1963 assasination of Greek activist Gregoris Lambrakis. Trintignant is a forceful magistrate determined to not let his government get away with covering up the assasination of a prominent politician (Yves Montand). As Trintignant fights for truth in an unsettling world, the film’s message is as true today as it was for its debut over 50 years ago.

He was shy, but it’s shyness that made Jean-Louis Trintignant an actor valued by the best directors for what he held back rather than what he gave away. He was shy and women loved him. His first wife was the actress Stéphane Audran; his affair with Brigitte Bardot on the set of And God Created Woman directed by Roger Vadim, Bardot’s husband, made him famous. He went on to work with Chabrol, Lelouch, Truffaut, Bertolucci, and be paired with Romy Schneider, Anouk Aimée, Juliette Binoche, Fanny Ardant and many more…He even made a spaghetti western! His other passion was car racing and he survived the Mans 24 hours race. His life had its share of tragedy, losing his first daughter, Pauline, at 10 months, and his other daughter, the actress Marie Trintignant, a victim of domestic violence. He made very few films after this tragedy, one of them the much-awarded Amour, by Michael Haneke.