In 1963, at a peaceful political rally in Thessaloniki in northerm Greece, Grigoris Lambrakis was brutally assassinated by several thugs with ties to a fanatical right wing group. A dynamic doctor/politician/humanitarian and ex-olympic athlete, Lambrakis was in line to become the next Prime Minister of Greece, This fact-based movie is based on the best selling novel by Vasillis Vassilikos. In Greece at this time, the police were basically controlled by several high-ranking army officials with close ties to Greece's fading monarchy. These high-ranking officials were, for the most part, anti-parliament, anti-democracy and anti-intellectual. At the same time, there was a growing youth movement developing. It's foothold was Greece's many universities. They were anti-NATO (they were opposed the presence of foreign military bases on Greek soil, particularly American military bases), and pro nuclear disarmament. They stood for basic human rights such as equal pay for teachers and civil servants. Lambrakis's assassination led to the downfall of the Greek government and the eventual resignation of the prime minister, Constantine Karamanlis, who fled the country for France. In 1967, after several years experimentation with democracy, a military junta took power. The "time of the colonels" led to the ban of long hair, subversive literature and music. Needless to say, many people "disappeared" during this period. Yves Montand to star as Lambrakis. Even though Montand has very little screen, he is riveting during those moments he is on screen. During one scene, just prior to his death, he is approached by two thugs meaning him harm. It is his presence alone, simply standing in the middle of a dangerous crowd, which sends the thugs fleeing in the other direction. Jean Louis Trintignant (FANNY ARDANT), plays the magistrate who handles the case for the government. It is his fact-finding which leads to criminal charges being brought against the many co-conspirators involved in Lambrakis's death. Ironically the only actor/actress whose talents are wasted in this film, is the only Greek: Irene Pappas. This is the fault of Gavras and his screenwriter. She doesn't have much to do except act as a cypher. Pierre Dux, who portrays the General, expertly captures the banality of evil. He is as smooth-talking and evil as they come. This film is a terrifying political thriller. I highly recommend it to all........

There's a politician in town for a nuclear disarmament rally and he's really getting the goats of the right-wingers in the government. As he's leaving the rally he forgets to look both ways and gets creamed by the world's smallest pick-up truck. Right in front of a line of soldiers and riot police, the guy gets rundown, well really he's gets hit in the head in a drive-by clubbing, but nobody does anything. I can respect that if that's the way they handle politicians in France, maybe they're on to something. Since the dude got wasted in front of the entire French military and police force, who all acted like they saw nothing, it's no surprise that there's a conspiracy. Anyway, a cop who's the spitting image of Merle Haggard has been tasked with dispatching some justice. At some point the clubbing people in the head thing becomes a bit comical. To think that this won an academy award made me look up the films it was up against. Never heard of any of 'em. It's OK but two hours and change is a long time to watch the good guys figure out the obvious.