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Mikis Theodorakis, ‘Zorba’ Composer and Marxist Rebel, Dies at 96
NYT ^ | 9/2/21 | Robert D. McFadden

Posted on 09/02/2021 8:24:56 AM PDT by Borges

Mikis Theodorakis, the renowned Greek composer and Marxist firebrand who waged a war of words and music against an infamous military junta that imprisoned and exiled him as a revolutionary and banned his work a half century ago, died on Thursday at his home in central Athens. He was 96.

The cause was cardiopulmonary arrest, according to a statement on his website. His family said in a statement read on Greek state television that his body would lie in state, and Prime Minister Kyriakos Mitsotakis declared three days of national mourning.

Mr. Theodorakis was best known internationally for his scores for the films “Zorba the Greek” (1964), in which Anthony Quinn starred as an essence of tumultuous Greek ethnicity; “Z” (1969), Costa-Gavras’s dark satire on the Greek junta; and “Serpico” (1973), Sidney Lumet’s thriller starring Al Pacino as a New York City cop who goes undercover to expose police corruption.

(Excerpt) Read more at nytimes.com ...


TOPICS: Music/Entertainment
KEYWORDS: serpico; z; zorba

1 posted on 09/02/2021 8:24:56 AM PDT by Borges
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To: Borges

More evidence to support the truism that only the good die young.


2 posted on 09/02/2021 8:26:48 AM PDT by MercyFlush (The final variant is called Communism. )
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To: Borges

So did he give up all of his royalties for his compositions to the state like a good little commie?


3 posted on 09/02/2021 8:27:36 AM PDT by NohSpinZone (First thing we do, let's kill all the lawyers)
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To: Borges

Marx: “God is dead.”

God: “Marx is dead.”


4 posted on 09/02/2021 8:27:54 AM PDT by Jim W N (MAGA by restoring the Gospel of the Grace of Christ (Jude 3) and our Free Constitutional Republic!)
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To: Borges

The only good Marxist…


5 posted on 09/02/2021 8:35:49 AM PDT by Skywise
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To: Borges

Well, he wrote some good music.

He is kind of the opposite of an old man I once knew — an Albanian Communist who escaped to Greece when he wasn’t hanging enough “fascists” after WW2, took refuge in a church during the Greek civil war, and became a Christian.


6 posted on 09/02/2021 8:44:25 AM PDT by Southside_Chicago_Republican (The more I learn about people, the more I like my dog. )
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To: Borges

His score for “Z” was riveting and drove the movie.


7 posted on 09/02/2021 8:50:51 AM PDT by Publius
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To: Borges

Never grief when a commie assumes room temperature.


8 posted on 09/02/2021 9:15:05 AM PDT by kenmcg (tHE WHOLE )
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To: Borges

9 posted on 09/02/2021 9:45:07 AM PDT by AAABEST (NY/DC/LA media/political/military industrial complex DELENDA EST)
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To: Borges

Try to watch the film version of “Zorba the Greek” now. It’s awful - unwatchable. And the score sucks. This guy was a true no-talent who wrote one song - the Zorba dance that goes from very slow to very fast. That’s it. He built his career on being a loudmouth Marxist which, to me, means he was an anti-human scum and supporter of the most murderous ideology the world has ever known.


10 posted on 09/02/2021 9:55:28 AM PDT by Dr. Thorne (The Media is the Virus.)
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To: Publius

William Friedkin pretty much ripped off the look and feel of Z in “The French Connection”.


11 posted on 09/02/2021 10:43:59 AM PDT by Borges
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To: Borges
Luckily for me, I never knew his politics back in the mid-60s when the Zorba movie came out. Bought the album and derived endless hours of enjoyment from the sound track. Here's a version of the Zorba theme:

Zorba the Greek flash mob

The guy is breaking plates in a small area in the street probably due to some regulation for the street-use permit; but in traditional Greek restaurants, the plates get tossed all over the floor!

12 posted on 09/02/2021 1:40:52 PM PDT by Albion Wilde ("Let us not talk falsely now, the hour is getting late." —Bob Dylan)
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To: Albion Wilde

Incidentally, Irene Papas is still alive and turns 95 tomorrow.


13 posted on 09/02/2021 1:49:46 PM PDT by Borges
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To: Borges
Every great once in a while an artist so captures the heart and soul of a nation that feelings of national pride and solidarity overwhelm the divisions and strife that divide a people. Mikis Theodorakis was such an artist.

His music captures the essence of life, the love of family, of friends, of lovers, the sweet sorrow of love lost, the smell of the sea and the warmth of the sun. Above all else, his music expresses joy, a joy that overflows the heart and uplifts the soul.

Mikis Theodorakis - The Golden Collection

14 posted on 09/02/2021 2:27:03 PM PDT by concentric circles
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To: Borges

Amazing!


15 posted on 09/02/2021 3:10:17 PM PDT by Albion Wilde ("Let us not talk falsely now, the hour is getting late." —Bob Dylan)
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To: Borges

Prayers for a deeply misguided soul.


16 posted on 09/02/2021 3:52:13 PM PDT by fieldmarshaldj (DEFEAT THE COUP D'ETAT BY THE STALINAZI DERP STATE !)
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