Mihalis Kakogiannis
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Michalis Kakogiannis, better known as Michael Cacoyannis,
Zorba the Greek
Stella (1955)
The first major filmmaker of Greek cinema was actually born in Cyprus,
Michalis Kakogiannis,
better known as Michael Cacoyannis, whose early films were:
Kyriakatiko Xypnima/ Windfall in Athens (1954), which launched the film career of stage actress Ellie Lambeti (born Ellie Loukou);
Stella (1955), an adaptation by playwright Iakovos Kambanelis of Georges Bizet's opera "Carmen", the film that launched the career of actress Melina Mercouri (later a Hollywood star) and of soundtrack composer Manos Hadjidakis;
To Koritsi me ta Mavra/ A Girl in Black (1956) and
To Telefteo Psema/ A Matter of Dignity (1957),
both starring Lambeti and photographed by British cinematographer Walter Lassally.
Cacoyannis then embarked on a trilogy of adaptations from classical tragedies
starring Irene Papas in her most memorable parts and scored by Mikis Theodorakis:
Ilektra/ Electra (1962), still photographed by the usual Lassally,
Troades/ The Trojan Women (1971), also starring stars Katharine Hepburn
and Vanessa Redgrave, and photographed by Alfio Contini (the cinematographer of Antonioni's Zabriskie Point), and
Ifigeneia/ Iphigenia (1977), photographed by Angelopoulos' cinematographer Yorgos Arvanitis.
In between he made the blockbuster Alexis Zorbas/ Zorba the Greek (1964),
an adaptation of Nikos Kazantzakis' novel "Vios Kai Politeia Tou Alexi Zorba",
photographed by Lassally and scored by Theodorakis,
starring US actors Anthony Quinn and Alan Bates but also Irene Papas.
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