sinecine: Journal of Film Studies

Abstract

As a human-specific phenomenon that emerges as a result of a natural need, that liberates the soul, that dispels fear, and that enables one to enjoy life, fun can be evaluated through film characters using a personal interpretation. The character of Zorba in the adapted movie Zorba The Greek (1964) exhibits a unique sense of fun with traces from Nietzsche's Thus Spoke Zarathustra. This understanding, which is based on the value system of Zarathustra and Dionysus, reflects the lifestyle of the Zorba, who is portrayed as a cheerful, wise character with a combination of overman conception and fun. In this way, Zorba opens up to new research both by reinterpreting and strengthening his representation in the novel of the same name with visual and auditory codes, and by his relationship with the philosophical source of the original text. This study aims to evaluate the character of Zorba in the film of Zorba The Greek through the character of Zarathustra in the work called Thus Spoke Zarathustra to reveal how Zorba exhibits his sense of fun combined with the overman conception. According to the research, Zorba adopted a life philosophy similar to Zarathustra with his activism for life, inner journey, spiritual guidance, opposition to rote, perspective on love and woman, glorification of dance, from living alone, and from his love of nature and friends. By discovering the core values ​​of the Pre-Socratic period, by finding a way of life for himself, and by shining a light around him, Zorba made it successful Nietzsche's Dionysian life formula with his activism for life. This success can be seen in the affirmation of life, in the display of practical intelligence ready to gamify at any moment, in the inversion of the formativeness of the modern world, and in the presentation of a reproduced sense of fun filled with dance and music. Zorba's humorous approach based on the attitude of turning inside out is revealed by his laughter, by his word games, by his exaggeration, by his inconsistency, and by his incompatibility; it affects the discovery of fun by the liberated and transformed boss and the monastery officials who can overcome their consciousness and get rid of oppression.