He Who Must Die (1957) was based on the novel Christ Recrucified by Greek writer Nikos Kazantzakis, also known for another book including the Christ (The Last Temptation of the Christ) and for Zorba the Greek (both adapted into films). Kazantzakis was nominated for the Nobel Prize in Literature nine times.
Despite the film's title, it's not about Jesus nor is it set in Jerusalem. It was filmed in Crete, Greece, the story has to do with Greek people and is set in Asia Minor in 1921, during the Ottoman Rule. This region had been historically inhabited by Greeks for millennia until 1922, when over one million Greeks were forced to move to Greece, and is now part of Turkey.
American director Jules Dassin stated that the locals of Crete refused to play Turks in the film, and they were eventually portrayed mainly by soldiers from the nearby American Base.
It was screened at the 1957 Cannes Film Festival, which writer Nikos Kazantzakis with his wife Eleni also attended.
This was Jules Dassin and Melina Mercouri's first collaboration. They had met two years earlier in Cannes, where he won Best Director and she was nominated for Best Actress (for Stella (1955), her first film). They went on to marry in 1966.
Contribute to this page
Suggest an edit or add missing content
