Costa Gavras

Costa Gavras married Michele Ray-Gavras in 1968. The couple has three children; two sons named Romain and Alexandre Gavras and a daughter named Julie Gavras. Among them Romain and Julie have followed their father’s footsteps and are film makers.

Though born Greek, he is now a naturalized French citizen and lives in the Latin Quarter near Boulevard Saint-Michel in Paris.

Costa-Gavras was born as Konstantinos Gavras on 12 February 1933, in Loutra Iraias, then a village in the Peloponnese region of southern Greece, to Russian-born father and Greek mother. Senior Gavras, a tax official at Athens, was an anti-royalist and took part in the left wing resistance movement during the Nazi occupation.

After the war, as Greece came under the influence of the Western powers, he was marked as a communist. Later in 1949, with the defeat of the communists in the civil war, he not only lost his job, but was also jailed.

As a result of this, their economic condition deteriorated to such an extent that his mother started cleaning houses. Moreover, the arrest also meant that Costa Gavras would not get admission into any university in Greece.

Therefore, he decided to go abroad and to save money he began to take up odd jobs, which enabled him to have a glimpse into a society that he would not have otherwise known. For some days, he also danced in a Greek opera house, an experience which later came handy.

Initially, Gavras wanted to study film-making in the United States; but because of his father’s political background, he was denied a visa. So in 1951, he moved to Paris, where he enrolled at the University of Paris (Sorbonne).

In 1965, Costa Gavras made his directorial debut with a murder mystery film, titled ‘Compartiment tueurs’ (The Sleeping Car Murders). It was based on Sébastien Japrisot’s eponymous novel. The movie did reasonably well at the box office.

His next film, ‘Un homme de trop’ (Shock Troops) was based on the World War II. Released 5 April 1967, it is set in Central France and tells the story of French resistance. The film gained entry into the 5th Moscow International Film Festival, held at Moscow between 5 July and 10 July of the same year.

In 1969, his film ‘Z’ was released. It is an Algerian-French political thriller, based on the 1966 novel by Vassilis Vassilikos and presents fictionalized version of Greek politician Grigoris Lambrakis’s assassination and the military dictatorship that ruled the country at that time. Critics consider this movie as his finest work.

Next he made ‘L'aveu’ (The Confession). Released in April 1970, the film is based on the real-life story of the Czechoslovak communist leader, Artur London, who became a defendant in the Slánský trial and went through unbelievable torture at the hand of totalitarian leadership.

’État de siège’ (State of Siege), released in 1972, is another of his popular works. Many critics consider this to be his finest work after his 1969 film ‘Z’. The story is a fictionalized version of an authentic event in 1970 when U.S. Embassy official Dan Mitrione was kidnapped and killed in Uruguay. It ruffled many a feathers in the US.

Costa Gavras is best known for his Algerian-French political thriller film ‘Z’. Made in 1969, it was a critical and commercial success. It was the fourth highest grossing film in France and the twelfth highest in the US. Moreover, it was the first film to receive Academy nomination in both Best Foreign Language Film and Best Picture categories.