Míkis Theodorakis

Míkis Theodorakis

Born: July 29, 1925
Died: September 2, 2021
in Chios, Greece
Michail "Mikis" Theodorakis (Greek: Μιχαήλ "Μίκης" Θεοδωράκης,29 July 1925 – 2 September 2021) was a Greek composer and lyricist credited with over 1,000 works.

He scored for the films Zorba the Greek (1964), Z (1969), and Serpico (1973).

He was a three time BAFTA nominee, winning for Z. For the score in the movie Serpico (1973), he earned Grammy nominations. Furthermore, for the unforgettable score to Zorba the Greek (1964), with its ‘Zorba’s Dance’, he was Golden Globe nominated.

He composed the "Mauthausen Trilogy", also known as "The Ballad of Mauthausen", which has been described as the "most beautiful musical work ever written about the Holocaust" and possibly his best work.Up until his death, he was viewed as Greece's best-known living composer. He was awarded the Lenin Peace Prize.

Politically, he was associated with the left because of his long-standing ties to the Communist Party of Greece (KKE). He was an MP for the KKE from 1981 to 1990. Despite this however, he ran as an independent candidate within the centre-right New Democracy party in 1989, in order for the country to emerge from the political crisis that had been created due to the numerous scandals of the government of Andreas Papandreou. He helped establish a large coalition between conservatives, socialists and leftists. In 1990 he was elected to the parliament (as in 1964 and 1981), became a government minister under Konstantinos Mitsotakis, and fought against drugs and terrorism and for culture, education and better relations between Greece and Turkey. He continued to speak out in favour of leftist causes, Greek–Turkish–Cypriot relations, and against the War in Iraq. He was a key voice against the 1967–1974 Greek junta, which imprisoned him and banned his songs.

Movies for Míkis Theodorakis...

An Buachaill Geal Gáireach/The Laughing Boy
Title: An Buachaill Geal Gáireach/The Laughing Boy
Character: (Archive footage)
Released: November 2, 2023
Type: Movie
A trilingual feature documentary - An Buachaill Geal Gáireach/ The Laughing Boy is the remarkable and untold story of a song.
bee
Dance Fight Love Die: With Mikis On the Road
Title: Dance Fight Love Die: With Mikis On the Road
Character: Mikis Theodorakis
Released: October 25, 2017
Type: Movie
An intimate look into the life of composer Mikis Theodorakis from 1987 until 2017: comprising three decades, four continents, 100 locations and 600 hours of film material. The film interweaves personal moments with archive footage, documentary recordings and fictional pieces, all accompanied by Theodorakis’ music in jazz, classic, electro and rap versions.
bee
Mikis Theodorakis. Composer
Title: Mikis Theodorakis. Composer
Character: Self
Released: November 29, 2010
Type: Movie
The Greek composer takes the viewers on a journey through 70 years of his prolific musical career. He talks, analyzes and unfolds the inspirations of his works using a plethora of archive films which illustrate his explanations.
bee
Ein Lied für Argyris
Title: Ein Lied für Argyris
Character: Himself
Released: November 2, 2006
Type: Movie
bee
A Man for Εverything
Title: A Man for Εverything
Character: Self
Released: December 3, 2004
Type: Movie
bee
Evidence
Title: Evidence
Character: Himself
Released: September 26, 1975
Type: Movie
A documentary presenting people and events connected with the most important political developments from the student uprising at the Athens Polytechnic in 1973 until the first year of democratic rule after the dictatorship collapsed in 1974.
bee
The Rehearsal
Title: The Rehearsal
Released: January 1, 1974
Type: Movie
An indictment of the Greek military junta of 1967–1974. The film tries to give a reconstruction of the events during the students' uprising in the Athens Polytechnic (November 1973) by documents, rehearsals, interviews, songs and poems.
bee
Title: Le Grand Échiquier
Character: Self
Released: January 12, 1972
Type: TV
bee
Title: Samedi soir
Character: Self
Released: January 9, 1971
Type: TV