Throughout most of his career, Greek-born director Costa-Gavras has set his sights on political themes. With the Academy Award-winning Z (1969), he attacked the right-wing military junta that seized power in his native country; with L’Aveu / The Confession (1970), he attacked the totalitarian ways of the Communist regime of Czechoslovakia; and with État de siège / State of Siege, he attacked the right-wing military dictatorships that, with the active assistance of the United States government, popped up throughout much of South America in the 1960s and 1970s.
Based on the real story of Daniel Mitrone, an American with ties to the Agency for International Development (in the film, a front for the CIA) and who was kidnapped by left-wing radicals in Uruguay, État de siège portrays a frightening world of ruthless, dogmatic fanatics from both sides of the political fence. Yves Montand stars as the suave but cold-blooded American coup-meister.
FILM
État de siège / State of Siege
Badlands
Don’t Look Now
Sleeper
DIRECTOR
Terrence Malick (Badlands)
Woody Allen (Sleeper)
Costa-Gavras (État de siège / State of Siege)
Nicholas Roeg (Don’t Look Now)
ACTOR
Nino Manfredi (Pane e cioccolata / Bread and Chocolate)
Woody Allen (Sleeper)
Steve McQueen (Papillon)
Yves Montand (État de siège / State of Siege)
Jack Nicholson (The Last Detail)
Al Pacino (Serpico)
Martin Sheen (Badlands)
Donald Sutherland (Don’t Look Now)
ACTRESS
Joanne Woodward (Summer Wishes, Winter Dreams)
Julie Christie (Don’t Look Now)
Katharine Hepburn (The Glass Menagerie)
Sissy Spacek (Badlands)
Elizabeth Taylor (Ash Wednesday)
Liv Ullmann (Scener ur ett äktenskap / Scenes from a Marriage)
Monique van de Ven (Turks fruit / Turkish Delight)
SUPPORTING ACTOR
Max von Sydow (The Exorcist)
Jean-Pierre Aumont (La Nuit américaine / Day for Night)
Randy Quaid (The Last Detail)
SUPPORTING ACTRESS
Hilary Mason (Don’t Look Now)
Bibi Andersson (Scener ur ett äktenskap / Scenes from a Marriage)
Jacqueline Bisset (La Nuit américaine / Day for Night)
Valentina Cortese (La Nuit américaine / Day for Night)
Sylvia Sidney (Summer Wishes, Winter Dreams)
SCREENPLAY
Costa-Gavras & Franco Solinas (État de siège / State of Siege)
Woody Allen & Marshall Brickman (Sleeper)
Ingmar Bergman (Scener ur ett äktenskap / Scenes from a Marriage)
Iaia Fiestri, Franco Brusati & Nino Manfredi (Pane e cioccolata / Bread and Chocolate)
Terrence Malick (Badlands)
Allan Scott & Chris Bryant (Don’t Look Now)
CINEMATOGRAPHY
Brian Probyn, Tak Fujimoto & Stevan Larner (Badlands)
Michael Chapman (The Last Detail)
Jim Crabe (Save the Tiger)
Norman Gerard (Mean Streets)
Pierre-William Glenn (La Nuit américaine / Day for Night)
Claude Lelouch (La Bonne année / Happy New Year)
René Mathelin (Le Magnifique / The Magnificent One)
Anthony Richmond (Don’t Look Now)
Giuseppe Rotunno (Amarcord)
ORIGINAL SCORE
Marvin Hamlisch (The Way We Were)
Georges Delerue (La Nuit américaine / Day for Night)
Pino Donnagio (Don’t Look Now)
Manos Hadjidakis (Der Fußgänger / The Pedestrian)
Nino Rota (Amarcord)
Armando Trovajoli (Paolo il caldo / The Sensuous Sicilian)
Rogier van Otterloo (Turks fruit / Turkish Delight)