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Mar 22, 2017lukasevansherman rated this title 4 out of 5 stars
The Greek director Costa-Gravas is best known for his 1969 political thriller "Z," but he made several other excellent films in the early 70s. He's the rare director who made films that were highly political, but not didactic and, in a way, you can see his influence on the myriad paranoid American thrillers of the 70s, like "All the President's Men," "The Parallax View," and "Three Days of the Condor." "Z," "The Confession," and "State of Siege" (all available from the Criterion Collection) form a loose trilogy about politics, power, and violence. All are inspired by true stories and all star the French actor (and left-leaning) Yves Montand. In "State of Siege," Montand plays an American official in Uruguay who is kidnapped by leftist guerrillas. It has an unusual structure and it is also unusual in seeking to understand both the point of view of the guerrillas and those in power. It may one of the first films to look at American imperialism in Latin America. His films have lost little of their power or, sadly, relevance.