A reserved English writer travelling to Crete on a matter of business finds his life changed forever when he meets the gregarious Alexis Zorba.A reserved English writer travelling to Crete on a matter of business finds his life changed forever when he meets the gregarious Alexis Zorba.A reserved English writer travelling to Crete on a matter of business finds his life changed forever when he meets the gregarious Alexis Zorba.
- Won 3 Oscars
- 8 wins & 16 nominations total
Giorgos Foundas
- Mavrandoni
- (as George Foundas)
Yorgo Voyagis
- Pavlo
- (as George Voyadjis)
George P. Cosmatos
- Acne Faced Boy
- (uncredited)
Nikos Papadakis
- Extra
- (uncredited)
- Director
- Writers
- All cast & crew
- Production, box office & more at IMDbPro
Storyline
Did you know
- TriviaAnthony Quinn (Alexis Zorba) had a broken foot during filming, and thus couldn't perform the dance on the beach as scripted, which called for much leaping around. The dance is called "syrtaki", and contains elements from various traditional Greek dances. It was created especially for this movie.
- GoofsNear the end of the movie, when the log is coming down the hill it is seen as fairly round and the bark is rough and peeling, like a natural log. But when the log gets to the end of the cable, it appears to be a fake log with no bark and a visible framework that makes it look multi-sided rather than round.
- Quotes
Basil: I don't want any trouble.
Alexis Zorba: Life is trouble. Only death is not. To be alive is to undo your belt and *look* for trouble.
- ConnectionsFeatured in V.I.P.-Schaukel: Episode #3.2 (1973)
- SoundtracksRiri Ririka
from the operetta "Our Ririka" (1929) (uncredited)
Written by Stathis Mastoras
Performed by Madame Hortense (Lila Kedrova)
Featured review
not easy to cinematize but they really did it!
A young Englishman is writing on a manuscript about the Buddha. He meets Alexis Zorba who greatly influences his outlook on life. The narrator, whose name is not revealed, hires Zorba to superintend the workmen in his lignite mine in Crete. Zorba the Greek is a book and a movie by nature on the contrast between the Apollonian and the Dionysian outlook on life. Apollo/the boss(Alan Bates) represents the spirit of order and rationality, while Dionysus/Zorba(Anthony Quinn) represents the spirit of ecstatic, spontaneous will to life. Anthony Quinn's performance is really great. I read the book about a month ago and I guess I couldn't visualize the Zorba image in my mind that well. His looks,one-liners,his dancing sirtaki on the beach,his harmony with Madame Hortense(Lila Kedrova)just looks so nice.It is really surprising that Lila Kedrova got "Academy Award for Best Supporting Actress" while Anthony Quinn just got the nomination for best actor in a leading role.(Such a pity that he didn't get it.) Well that work of art is not so great as "Jesus Re-crucified" or "The Last Temptation of Christ " but is a still great Kazanthakis art.And the adapted movie is a really good one coz given that the whole book is based on a contrast introduced by Friedrich Nietzsche and it is not supposed to be easy to cinematize a philosophical book.Great Quinn! Great movie!(But I Don't THINK LILA KEDROVA DESERVES THAT AWARD) If you have ever read Kazanthakis you should absolutely see this movie!
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- elsinefilo
- Aug 30, 2005
- Permalink
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Details
- Release date
- Countries of origin
- Official site
- Languages
- Also known as
- Alexis Sorbas
- Filming locations
- Chania, Crete, Greece(City Scenes)
- Production company
- See more company credits at IMDbPro
Box office
- Budget
- $783,000 (estimated)
- Gross worldwide
- $516
- Runtime2 hours 22 minutes
- Color
- Sound mix
- Aspect ratio
- 1.66 : 1
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