This is the first of Jules Dassin's Greek films and in many ways the most remarkable one, certainly the most dramatic and dynamic, and at the same time the only quite universal among them. After mainly having directed 'noirs', crowning his 'noir' achievement with the unsurpassed "Rififi" in France, his next film was this one about a Greek village under the suppression of the Turkish rule. To spite the Turks, the Greeks under the eloquent priest Jean Servais organize their annual festivity of staging a passion play of the passion of Christ above the village, and this passion play gradually transforms into reality, as the conflicts within the community emerge, an old priest siding with the prevalent order of the Turks, and Jean Servais moving forward with more liberal attitudes. This was Jules Dassin's first collaboration with Melina Mercouri, who plays 'Mary Magdalene' and has a relationship with the stammering Pierre Vaneck, who is to be the Christ in the passion play. By something of a miracle he gets rid of his stammer, while the tensions increase and finally lead to open civil war within the village with armed resistance against the order of the establishment. There is a Caiaphas and a Judas, the whole passion play is manifested in reality, and there is of course the obligatory martyrdom. The film is made on a novel by Nikos Kazantzakis, and like all his novels, this story is also tainted by his obsession with Christianity, which does not appeal to everyone. For me it always smells of hypocrisy and sanctimoniousness, like also in "Zorba", another of his novels, but here the drama is saved by excellent performances by Melina Mercouri first of all, but also by Maurice Ronet, Gert Froebe and Pierre Vaneck. It is a vital film and is usually considered Jules Dassin's best European film after "Rififi".
Review of He Who Must Die
