So so I watched the movie zorba the Greek I think this was the second thing I watched in the larsen sume -1 floor big 55 inch tv Damn That’s the size of one we have home right Hmmm

Anyways so how was the movie I think it was great pretty great did not I mean I could put my attention all the way yeah so I’m saying not boring first of all and it was good actually like I genuinely liked some moments and overall the film was good as well so yeah

Good characters good moments entertaining and somewhat sad as well in some moments so let me summarize how it starts the movie So we have this

Hey there. I think this app would be helpful for me. I will be writing my movie review without having to constantly worry whether the voice detection actually is still on or if it fucking stopped midware. This Google Keyboard does it a lot and because of that my attention is diverted and I'm never able to actually do...

Let's see if this Wispr Flow thing works or not. I hope it has some retrying mechanism because if I talk for a minute and then I press the right button here, the check button here, I hope this check button works, by the way. Even if it doesn't I hope it retries or something because the Gemini input just somehow randomly does nothing. It's very frustrating. I have to talk again but it's not even about talking again. It's about having to rethink what you are saying and everything. Yeah not good for creative or thoughtful work. 

Okay so it does not work offline. It does give me a retry button. I was about to press it but then I think the edit text lost focus and it fucking lost focus. I mean that’s scary, man. Let’s see. I think, I don’t know.

But it looks like it works pretty accurately and now I have this right button. I don’t have to worry about this Google keyboard not letting me control when I actually want to end the recording.

Wow it works pretty well. I’m impressed. No spelling issues so far and all.

Okay let me try it now. Maybe it will be a very long recording. Let’s see how it goes after this.

So the movie, Zorba the Greek. I just close my eyes and I think this experience is better than the anxiety-prone, anyway, the anxiety-prone Google keyboard-looking thing. Even the smallest thing they can do is just let me hold the button, the mic button, and only when I release that can you start processing or something. No they don’t do that but that’s fine. It’s fine. Let’s begin with the movie Zorba the Greek. It starts with the guy in a suit and boots. It’s not just that. It’s more about how he looks like a professional or an Englishman or, let’s say, civilised. Actually I don’t trust the app. Let me see if this works.

Yeah it’s working pretty well. Let me do it next.

Oh it actually did not convert the word “so,” which I said. I said something like, “It’s working pretty well, so let me do it next,” but it did not include those words.

It does quote things properly here and there. I don’t really want to be anxiety-ridden. Maybe I can trust it.

Fuck it let’s start the movie. The guy you see, he looks more civilised and educated and all. Then this guy comes up, who looks more like a homeless kind of man. They have a small chat and he somehow convinces him and the other guy. I think I need a name. Okay Zorba is this guy and the other guy, let’s call him the gentleman.

The gentleman actually says to himself, “I think I’m mad, but yeah I think, let me take you to my property or something, and let’s do something over there.” They go to the town and they are welcomed by this woman, a very cheerful kind of woman, very not reserved or so, not numb. She’s not numb.

The movie shows it clearly, like the other villagers and all. It feels like you are in India or something. The villagers are English or white people but all the behaviour and all, I think poverty affects everyone the same. Fucking hell man. I couldn’t even imagine how the same people were once a very advanced thing, like how would they talk and how would they do things, how it turned out, but anyways. Okay let me just stop here. I don’t trust the app.

Okay so far, so good. They are welcomed by this woman, Lola. Lola is the other one. This guy Zorba, he doesn’t hold back. He just is very touchy-touchy with her and all.

I think this is where the first line of the movie, a very profound line that comes to me, comes in when he says, “This woman is…” I think his look: actually I had somehow guessed it that he looks at the woman. I mean he’s not manipulative. If he’s not manipulative so far and if you do not think his signals so far in the movie are wrong, he looks like a happy man. He looks like he is in the moment. He doesn’t look cunning. He doesn’t look like a deceitful man. You kind of go along with him and even with his behaviour with the woman.

I think he doesn’t even know her, right? Yeah that’s crazy. He doesn’t even know her because I think in the beginning, when they reach the town, he asks whether that woman is alone or a widow or something. I think there is also a dialogue which says, “As many hairs I have, as much of a widow’s husband she has,” or something. I don’t know. Does it mean prostitution? I don’t think so. She looks like just a normal lady who has this hotel business and all and she welcomes them. How did he escalate so fast with her? Maybe they know each other before. Yeah they maybe do, right, because Zorba is from the village. I don’t know.

Somehow if the gentleman hires him, then I think he knows the people in the village and it also could be. Anyway Zorba sees those weak poor creatures. I think it’s kind of true here with this hotel lady. Damn somehow it makes me remember Mac.

Okay so but I was Mac was it macintosh not really I think it was Mackenzie I forgot Anyway they go and then I think there is this scene where they go inside the coal mine, I guess. In the coal mine it is dangerous and all but that moment is fun, where Zorba comes out. This gentleman is like, “Zorba, Zorba, are you okay? Where are you?” Zorba comes out and just says, “What?” Zorba does assert his presence. He’s not like a normal slave or something. He has his own persona and everything of his own.

He even asks the guy, “Can you sign?” Basically saying that at work I am your slave, not really a worker or labour, or you are my master at work but after that, at drinking or something, I am a free man. Actually in the movie it never happens that he acts like any slave or something. I would not say he is arrogant or something. For example once he drinks the wine, he says, “With your permission,” and then he drinks but it’s more like he’s going to drink anyway without the permission or something. That’s funny. He asserts himself yes.

But not in a deceitful or bad way. Then what happens? I think they have this scene with that woman they show with the goat, right? I think it is shown very early and I noticed her, just as some villager with a goat or something.

I think the thought that came to my mind was: today’s woman, all this facade they have, they would never show themselves like that and this is actually true. That’s the conclusion of it. They are just portraying that they are some high-class woman. All these things they do and all these things they don’t do, whatever they show you, what they want to show you. One thing is very clear: they want to show that they are high class, with beauty and high class.

I don’t really require brain there, actually, on the reels. You just need to show and create an illusion for these sexually deprived men, hordes of them. The illusion you create is that you are high class. You see it, right? You are high class and that high class is as in: just don’t show you are like some wild person. Show some manners. Not even manners, but that sounds like a scary persona. Basically just market yourself as if you are the wife material, the ideal partner for any guy.

Never ever accept that. Just say you dress for yourself, you do everything by yourself, and all, and all, and all. It goes very badly, man, but whatever, man. Even the women were suppressed for a long time so I don’t even know when I should call anything bad or not. Fuck it.

Okay so I did not say scary I don’t even know what I was saying but it’s not very accurate but maybe also I should put some effort into speaking slow and speaking more definitely with clearer pronunciations and all

Come on I was just about to draft this app. It says, “You have reached your weekly limit. Flow will slow down until next week.” What the fuck do you mean, slow down?

Anyway then what happens? There is this scene where her bakri, or her goat, is being hidden by these men and she hates them. Everyone lusts for her because she is a widow and then Zorba gives it back to her. The gentleman gives her an umbrella and in her eyes she sees, I guess, something. I don’t know what. Basically I know what I mean: she sees some respect. She pays respect with her eyes or maybe she also has a good impression just because he was not part of the people harassing her. Zorba says, “Right, these people want her but they can’t have her so they hate her.” I just recalled how it ends.

The guy hesitates, for once and twice. If I was there, signals were clear. She even sends back the umbrella with some rose water, I guess, and a biscuit but even before that I would have gone there myself to talk to her.

“Hey what’s up?” At least from empathy I don’t want anything from her and when I don’t want anything from anyone I’m good. Neither was she very very pretty or something. I mean average or a little less than average if it’s about my personal choice and all.

In these cases when I know that I’m not looking, I’m not looking at them as potential partners. Then I become very confident and all. I would have gone there. I would have said, “Hey how are you? Are you doing good? Do you hate this man? I know they are bad, right? You must be feeling lonely or something.” I don’t know, not exactly those things but I would definitely talk with manners. Manners as in I will talk with my mind in place, not something bad or something that would hurt her.

Just because she’s lonely and she’s fearful, she must be so fucking scared of her life and everything, alone and all. A woman should not be alone man. Her fight-or-flight system would always be active. The cortisol and everything is not good man. Not good. Let her just feel the release of just letting it all on the man and that submission, the piece of that submission, yeah.

Anyway he doesn’t go there and there is some other guy who wants her but his father doesn’t. His father catches him throwing some love letter, which she throws back at the father. The father gets the love letter and I think he’s angry. The guy is found dead in the water. Was it her? No I don’t think so. Was it his father most likely? The father maybe throws him in the water.

I will definitely ask AI afterwards to clarify all my points and if I missed something because I definitely did I guess. I think then after all that they blame her. Do they think she’s a witch or something? Something happens and then everyone wants to just murder her or something. Zorba comes in time and Zorba saves her but still as soon as Zorba turns his back for her to follow him, someone comes and just slashes her throat. That’s sad man. That’s sad.

Okay wait, but I think I fast-forwarded too much. Before that this gentleman actually goes to her place and then she cries. He’s like, “What the fuck, why? Let me go. I will leave,” but she’s like, “Don’t leave.” I think they don’t even understand each other’s language.

Then she undresses herself. He goes and grabs her and all and he starts crying or something. I mean he is actually a weak kind of a man. Dude, all she needs is a masculine figure not some crybaby who’s sobbing in her, holding her like a mother and child, with his mother around her waist or something.

But I think her release of tears and all was because finally she just wanted some release. If I was there I would have just sat there and not even tried to go out or something. If she wanted she would definitely push me out or make it clear. It was more about how I would just sit there, let her cry, and let her get it all out.

I’m not sure if they had sex or not. It doesn’t really matter. The main thing, actually, is that even for him I did not expect him to be so deprived or something. Actually the good dialogue is there. I forgot. Let me find a screenshot.

To be alive is to undo your belt and look for trouble

Okay I was trying this one more I’ve called rambler which is wasted more of my time and the first time has completely turned out completely run out of my weekly credits just in a few minutes but anyways fine just let me use the fucking Google now I’ll do my attention will be divided although my attention will be divided see see this fucker anyways so where I was yeah they actually the woman right like I think I expected more of the man for some reason like how can he just like go and have sex with her maybe he was also very sexually deprived but still man like think of her as well right like she has been living like this for years or so like I would even still be more gentle and patient and all even with a normal woman but her she actually needs more support from you not like but yeah anyway I think what do I say But you know this is also makes me wonder like I thought we as a people right we just we just calibrate this our standards based on our surroundings so the woman as well right why did she not just pick one man from The Village to marry and all why she despise all of them if if that is the correct word what I’m saying is why did she hate all of them how does she have a standard higher than that especially now that she’s a widow and all You know the movie gives you a lot of studio Ghibli Vibes as well like especially those old grannies that come later and all but I think yeah I think things are fine and all eventually they want to do this long thing basically I was like I would start from the basics right just throw them down what happens and then try to build something this whole pole thingy and all I was a bit suspicious as well but the gentleman trusts zorba and zorba goes to the city and then zorba does what’s what’s zorba does and but like he still sends him a letter saying that he’s having fun and he’s also doing work and all but like I think this gentleman doesn’t like it initially that he’s wasting his time and money maybe and actually from zorba Aswell right so far I did not I did not have any kind of complain but then he just forgets that lady and then just get grabs a new lady and all and it’s it’s kind of weird a bit like I don’t you show him like the protagonist and I think he’s fine and good he’s in the moment but then maybe he also not made any promise to her right that’s where you start seeing start seeing some cracks in his character maybe like because he was so nice and patient with her and all it kind of makes sense yes like let’s be in the moment there’s something I was struggling as well right like about commitment and about them thinking that you they that they expect more from you etc anyways so he goes and he rides to this guy and the woman is expecting I mean why is she expecting so much like even she could just just accept that he is just a guy I met recently and he’s not some serious about me or something but maybe zorba gives him her some hopes or something so anyways you go to the city he’s enjoying there even dies his hair black so not to look old or something and but this guy gentleman he could I think it’s his mistake as well he should not have elongated the story so much he could just say that yes he’s busy and she says continue and he just like fucking continues more than he should basically now zorba it’s all up to him and now zorba is a bit sad as well but anything and I think he even tells this to gentleman that you did not do this good like this is because of you or something but you know three of the movie no one gets very angry on each other like a lot of it they express their opinion calmly and all that’s it that’s one thing I like about the movie as well and even till the end since the same thing is followed even when their whole plan is like failed and everything and all the things collapse and all I mean that’s what I actually was kind of thinking actually you just give this whole plan and money to some guy who is not definitely sure has done this before but you say you trust him and all I mean I’m not complaining but I’m just just putting it there so anyways this is zorba he’s busy with his new lover and they lie and then he come back and actually there’s a dialogue as well right where she says and they always say that like like they will come back and all but they never anyways so the woman right I think she is being used a lot by those ship captains if he which never came back or something her story showed nicely and her acting is like very rememberable and her facial expressions and everything yeah man like and zorba as well also played very well and even that gentleman to my guy he’s okay only the life is in those two characters but next

Then what happens I think yeah I zorba he has to then carry on with the LIE actually he does not have to but he just does it and then it it makes you wonder how bad it’s going to end but then suddenly for some reason she falls sick I mean like why they did not clarify that there was a moment when she falls and there was a moment when they do some cup therapy on her but but like it was not clear what she already sick or something but yeah I think one more thing you see is how everyone the whole village is just there to loot her I mean before I went to that the the scene where they kill the witch I think is it witch because the villagers the man actually do hate her and they actually want to see her naked with the torn cloths and all But anyways what I was saying is it is sad that she dies and this guy right this fucker guy he doesn’t even say anything this gentleman is really a gentleman or like he just says I couldn’t help or something but what the fuck man like dude and the next day it’s like they fucking forgot about it like what the hell dude like nothing even after the woman dies zorba is kind of same as well actually maybe even more harsher he’s like let her body rot there or so makes u question all his love and everything And he is actually much more touchy touchy as well he should not be that touchy She does it exist in clearly in some points and all but anyways It’s it’s actually sad the state of those two women in the movie I mean like it’s sad man really and these guys like the next day they are just back on to their work and it fails and anyways they laugh and dance and all but like dude like do you have no regret or no remorse or just a moment of sadness for what happened sometime back like maybe a few days back or something what the hell man I think in the book they say I think there is more self-inquiry or something and it is more deeper or something but the movie definitely is not like in the end you kind of are skeptical of the characters rather than you know completely being with them I think I was with zorba in the beginning more when he was empathetic and drive and driven because of that not because he just wanted sex or something I mean anyways in the end yes the ending thing is nice they show that the gentleman is not angry on on him and it’s not even like they completely ignore that the zorba also asks him are you angry on me and he says no so not like this show some imaginary thing. But yeah they laugh and all and I think he will leave and never come back because maybe he lost all his money or something but you know this thing right this gentleman he is so wise and calm at one point or in some instances and in other instances his cowardly his love was literally getting murdered but he couldn’t come out of the crowd and he he did not even reach out to her many time but ultimately he goes in the dark of the night that’s so fucked up man like and even if he goes instead of giving her support he becomes her dependency or something like I don’t I really don’t like that guy for a lot of moments maybe even in the end actually if you see his overall all the actions. If we talk about zorba I think you should not have promised her or at least he should have been clear with the woman that he is not promising anything or anything actually you know this movie does not really answer my this thing that you have to be spontaneous and that I should not already imagine that if I show any form the woman will start expecting and then I will have to be obligatory and that will ruin me or something actually the point was that to watch movies and to realize you have you have to be more in the present and this is how most things works it might look irrational or without thought but even when you are mature you should still go with the flow kind of everyday things and all but even with understanding the consequences and everything and having things clear but anyway I think that’s the movie ends I think the movie was a good watch the characters good and very relatable initially but in the end I guess not much and the woman I actually feel for them and there are few certain side characters as well like those grannies they just feel like this studio Ghibli kind of grannies the way they just like come in and sit there and they don’t really have any empathy for her she is dying and all this is like sit there like crows in in her fucking room while she was dying and as soon as they think she is dead they just like start crying and but she just wakes up because of that you know at least leave the dying person alone man like what the hell you can’t even wait outside the room while she dies you are so desperate to to loot that person it’s a bit sad but ultimately it’s Village poverty and all and maybe instead of letting it all go to the state and do all the middle man and the enforcement and all they rather take it I mean it’s actually a bit surprising how the lady was so rich compared to the villagers maybe she had incentives and she had people in place to defend her property eventually the whole thing is looted and that is kind of not really good but what do I say it’s a bit sad actually is

Anyways that’s it I guess I just want to go to sleep but it’s already 4:00 a.m. now but let me just put all this through AI once

The hotel lady is Madame Hortense (played by Lila Kedrova, who won an Oscar for those exact facial expressions you noticed).

Hortense was a French cabaret singer and high-class courtesan ("prostitute" for the elite) during Crete's brief period of autonomy (around 1898–1913) when the four Great Powers (Britain, France, Italy, Russia) stationed their fleets there. When the admirals sailed away, she got stuck on the island, aging, broke, and living in her delusions of grandeur.  

When she sleeps with Basil—an outsider—and Pavli dies, the village men use "family honor" as the moral excuse to finally punish her for rejecting them. The man who slashes her throat when Zorba's back is turned is Manolakas, her most aggressive local suitor.  

Basil ("The Gentleman") is a Coward, Not a Hero: You read him better than 90% of audiences. Nikos Kazantzakis (who wrote the novel) based Basil on himself as a critique of the "intellectual." Basil has read every philosophy book, talks calmly, and acts civilized, yet he is completely paralyzed in reality. He waits until pitch black to sneak into the Widow’s house so his reputation isn't risked; he weeps on her like a child instead of offering strength; and when she is being cornered at the church to be murdered, he stands frozen on the edge of the crowd doing nothing while old Zorba fights Manolakas alone. His "calmness" isn't wisdom—it's detachment and low agency.  

In a harsh, claustrophobic honor-culture, the local men don't view her as a person; they view her as unclaimed property after her husband died. Marrying one of them wouldn't mean safety; it would mean submitting to a man who already disrespected and harassed her in the streets. Basil’s small gesture with the umbrella stood out precisely because he didn't leer at her or demand anything—he treated her with quiet dignity.  

The film is actually a tug-of-war between two flawed extremes (what Nietzsche called the Apollonian vs. the Dionysian):
Basil (Over-Intellectualization / Fear of Mess): He is so afraid of consequences, entanglement, and looking foolish that he never acts. When he finally does act (with the Widow, or by escalating the fake marriage letter to Hortense), he does it clumsily and half-heartedly, causing maximum damage while taking zero responsibility.  
Zorba (Pure Impulse / Amoral Vitality): Zorba operates on pure life-force. Why is he so touchy with Hortense? For Zorba, physical affection and flattering an aging, lonely woman isn't a long-term contract; it’s an act of immediate compassion. He sees a starved creature and feeds her ego in the present moment. However, the dark side of living purely in the present is that when you leave the room, the other person ceases to exist for you. In Crete, he loves Hortense; in the city, he loves Lola; when Hortense dies, he shrugs, takes her parrot, and eats dinner because he is still alive and hungry.  

The mistake in the movie wasn't Zorba's spontaneity—it was Basil inventing the marriage lie in the letter. Zorba never promised to marry Hortense before leaving for the city; he just gave her warmth in the moment. It was Basil, the "polite, conflict-avoidant gentleman," who couldn't bear to see Hortense cry and fabricated the lie that Zorba wanted to marry her, trapping Zorba into going along with it out of pity when he returned.

Spontaneity doesn't require faking future commitments; it fails only when you lack the spine to hold a clear boundary when the other person tries to convert a good moment into a life contract.  

⭐ I’m basically if you think if you suspect the person won’t even be able to accept or no when they will propose then don’t get engaged with them at all like most of the humanity I guess won’t be like that like to know the effects and consequences and stuff and they won’t like imagine to handcuff you and all or threatened to put rape charges on a guy that just fell for in a very few days What I’m saying is just people are usually normal and if they are not you will understand it quickly before putting any time with them even in his spontaneous time at least you should have that much of a awareness and if not you should better be doomed more until you get that awareness

When she sleeps with Basil—an outsider—and Pavli dies, the village men use "family honor" as the moral excuse to finally punish her for rejecting them. The man who slashes her throat when Zorba's back is turned is Manolakas, her most aggressive local suitor.  

So why don't they do anything to the gentleman and do they know that the gentleman slept with her and like I even saw in the end that the guy who killed her offers the gentleman some wine for the hotel ladies death to her soul or something I mean that's crazy right I'll have him this gentleman look at the murderer of the woman he slept with with like a normal eye and all its fucking crazy 
And like how was there no law enforcement or nothing 
First of all the gentlemen is fucking disappointing for not stepping in but it's even more sad that the whole thing is said her death is said

Mimithos (the village idiot) spreads the word immediately. That is the exact spark that drives Pavli to drown himself—he realizes the woman who rejected him all this time just gave herself to the foreign "Boss."

Basil is "The Boss." He holds the capital, owns the lignite mine, and pays their wages. In a starving village, you don't kill the guy funding the local economy.

By rejecting every local Cretan man for years and then opening her door to a rich foreigner, the Widow humiliated the collective manhood of the village. Killing her "cleanses" their pride without costing them a single drachma.

The Widow has zero male relatives to avenge her. If Manolakas kills Basil, he brings down the British Consulate, the Greek state police, and economic ruin on the village. If he kills a defenseless, isolated widow, the cost is zero.

It’s funny right the law only is evoked when there is someone to complain otherwise why would people with energy and money on this justice in the air

When you look at the stuff like this life gets clearer to you and you complain less and you realize that grim reality

Even if a regional gendarme showed up, the entire village—including the priest and the elders—would swear under oath that it was an accident or that they saw nothing. When the entire community agrees on a murder, the law ceases to exist.

First, compartmentalization. To the villagers, murdering the Widow wasn't a crime; it was "taking out the trash" to restore order. Once the blood debt is paid, the ledger is wiped clean in their minds. They go right back to being polite, God-fearing neighbors. It’s the banality of evil in a small town—they can slit a woman's throat on Tuesday and toasted to a soul's peace on Thursday without feeling a shred of hypocrisy.
Second, Basil’s ultimate emasculation. That scene is the final nail in the coffin for Basil's character. Looking into the eyes of the man who butchered the woman you held in your arms a few nights ago, and just passively accepting his presence without smashing a bottle over his head or even calling him out, shows total moral bankruptcy.

The mistake in the movie wasn't Zorba's spontaneity—it was Basil inventing the marriage lie in the letter. Zorba never promised to marry Hortense before leaving for the city; he just gave her warmth in the moment. It was Basil, the "polite, conflict-avoidant gentleman," who couldn't bear to see Hortense cry and fabricated the lie that Zorba wanted to marry her, trapping Zorba into going along with it out of pity when he returned.

So did zorba knew that she was going to die anyways soon because I think he continues with the lie and even tells her more about how he has ordered a lot of stuff for their marriage and all if only he knew that she was going to die that he would have said all these things otherwise otherwise he could have just told her the truth

A normal, strategic person thinks: "If I lie about ordering wedding dresses today, what happens next week when the ship doesn't arrive?" Zorba doesn't think like that. He treats future problems as completely non-existent until they physically arrive. He inflates the lie in the moment just to get through the afternoon, buy himself time, and keep the peace.  

In the novel and early in the film, Zorba brags about how he gives old, lonely women joy because "what does it cost me?" He views sleeping with Hortense and flattering her as free charity. What he refuses to calculate is that attention is currency, and for a desperate person, it implies a future.  
Even before she got sick, Zorba had no exit strategy. Had she not conveniently caught pneumonia and died right on cue to bail the plot out, Zorba would have either been trapped in a miserable marriage with a delusional old woman, or he would have just disappeared in the middle of the night when the mine failed, leaving her twice as broken as before. His "in-the-moment kindness" only looks noble because her sudden death saved him from the bill coming due.  

So this is my point I understand that the gentleman is actually not the good character of the movie and neither the protagonist and I also understand that zorba actually is a bit better he lives spontaneously and all his actions in the movie are not really selfish or so but more or less some of them are selfless like being kind to this hotel woman and even stepping up and risking his own life to save to try to save that other woman 
But the only thing I think I can blame him still is like this living in the present philosophy is fine but then maybe you are just ignorant to other people as well living in the present or something I think living in the present doesn't mean not caring about the future I mean it it actually does means not caring about the future but but how do I say maybe he is not a mature developed person that even the thought that this is going to come back to me multifold if I don't stop it here maybe this this thought doesn't come to him and if that is the case if he is that you know like I can basically give him the benefit of doubt if he actually is not like as strategy or smart as I think I am but then because he genuinely does not have the capacity to think long term maybe I can let him off the hook but if he actually knows what he's doing and what the consequences can be but he still does it just to be in the present and doesn't worry about the future I mean like it's like that grasshopper who does not collect grain for the winter so so I mean like I get his philosophy I don't think he even is mature to have a philosophy I get his way of living but I think I won't apply it completely to my life. 
Between choosing the gentleman and choosing zorba I think I will choose never choose the gentleman actually and I think by my writing and stream of consciousness you must have gotten that as well actually I also wanted to ask you what do you think about my stance whenever I was watching the film I mean like I think I was this introverted rational guy before hyper-rational guy before but I think now I have come a good progress on this but I would still say that I would not I still do not feel I should completely lean towards zorba as well

Zorba’s "grasshopper" behavior isn't due to a low IQ or a lack of life experience; it is philosophical nihilism disguised as joy. Because he has seen every long-term plan, family, and state collapse into dust, he concluded that long-term planning is a delusion. When the entire lignite mine timber-run collapses at the end—destroying months of labor and all of Basil's capital—Zorba doesn't flinch because, in his mental model, everything collapses eventually anyway.

You cannot build complex systems: Zorba's engineering fails catastrophically because intuition and enthusiasm cannot replace structural physics and rigorous calculation.  
You externalize the cost onto others: Zorba can afford to live in the moment because Basil pays the bills and Hortense absorbs the emotional debt. If everyone lived like Zorba, society would starve by winter.  

Making sure your bridges don't collapse, and never writing emotional checks with women that you have no intention of cashing

So ultimately I also want to ask you this like maybe is there something I missed in the movie any other small points maybe they were not significant enough that I didn't know them or maybe I just missed them completely or so  I don't know
And also I think the book is more descriptive and everything right so maybe maybe it actually tells us whether zorba actually was writing emotional checks to the hotel woman or he was just there with his presence and good words for that night only because then I can judge him better

In the book, Zorba does write emotional checks, and he does it consciously out of a bizarre, twisted theology of his own invention.
When they first eat and drink with Hortense, Zorba flatters her relentlessly—calling her his "little swan," comparing her to the great warships, and treating her like a 20-year-old queen. He doesn't explicitly promise marriage on that first night, so technically he stays in the present. However, he knowingly feeds her delusion.
In the novel, Zorba explains his philosophy on women directly to the Boss (Basil): he believes that God Himself doesn't care about a man's sins (stealing, fighting, lying), EXCEPT for one unforgivable sin: refusing a woman who asks to sleep with you or wants warmth from you. To Zorba, a woman is a weak, irrational, starving creature made by nature purely for love. Therefore, when an old, ugly, washed-up woman looks at you with begging eyes, Zorba views sleeping with her and telling her pretty lies as a religious charity—like throwing bread to a starving stray dog.

In his own head, he is doing hard charitable labor by sleeping with an aging woman he isn't even truly attracted to (once he reaches the city and sees young Lola, he tells the Boss he realized how dried-up and smelly Hortense actually was).

Yeah I actually even called her in the movie also like a bit disrespectful way as well when she actually sleeps but one thing I also notable is that he despite knowing that she is imagining some other captain old captain and all he still sleeps with her I meant and I don’t think he’s just trying to be exploitative or something I think he just ignored certain facts he doesn’t want complete control over her or everything it’s just charity in a sense as well as he says

Because he views women as children or pets rather than equal adults, he thinks he can feed them heavy romantic illusions at night and have zero consequences in the morning. He treats flattery as a consumable meal rather than an implied contract

In the book, even before Basil writes the fake letter, Hortense is already aggressively pressing Zorba for wedding rings because the level of romantic worship he poured onto her naturally implied devotion to a lonely woman. Furthermore, in the book, Zorba does reluctantly write back from the city telling her not to worry and promising to buy rings just to shut her up and keep the peace. So while Basil poured gasoline on the fire, Zorba struck the match by treating deep romantic validation like cheap pocket change.

You might have noticed Zorba has half a finger missing on his left hand. In the book (and briefly referenced in the film), Basil asks if he lost it in a war. Zorba says no: he used to be a master potter, and that finger kept getting in the way of shaping the clay on the wheel, so he picked up a hatchet and chopped it off himself. That single detail defines the gap between the two men: if something stands in the way of Zorba’s passion or craft, he amputates his own flesh without hesitation; Basil wouldn't even risk a paper cut for his life's work.

Remember the whole logging operation that collapses at the end? Where did those trees come from? They belonged to a Greek Orthodox monastery up on the mountain. In the film, there is a quick, strange subplot with the monks; in the book, it is a brutal expose of institutional hypocrisy. The monks are greedy, gluttonous, and sexually repressed (some are secretly homosexual, one is obsessed with carving wooden statues of demons). Zorba figures out their leverage points, bribes the Abbot, and exploits their corruption to get the timber rights cheap. It shows that Zorba isn't a naive fool—when dealing with men and institutions, he is a sharp, cynical negotiator. He only fails when dealing with physics (the cableway).  

Yeah I did not mention this much but in the film he does something he throws rocks I guess and then he does some wine thingy I guess he puts wine in there container or something and then eventually he just says that those people are his friends to gentleman

You noted earlier that you would have tested the logs first before building the whole structure. In the movie, they actually do test a miniature model inside the house using matchsticks, and it works on a micro scale. What Zorba misses is scaling laws—the kinetic energy and friction of a two-ton pine trunk coming down a steep mountain scales exponentially compared to a matchstick. On the first real test logs, the friction sets the wooden tracks on fire and snaps the pillars. Zorba’s third test log goes flying into space, and instead of fixing the math, he says "To hell with it, release the whole forest at once!" turning an engineering failure into a celebratory demolition.  

Wow they show it a bit different in the film but yeah I think it’s the gentleman to blame actually not zorba. It is the gentleman who gave him the capital and just trusted him I mean blindly okay but still like when you see things are going in direction which you feel might not be the best you can still intervene and put your thoughts

You guessed at the end that Basil leaves and never comes back because he lost all his money. That is exact. In the novel, they part ways at the coast, and Basil moves around Europe for years. Zorba goes back to wandering—he ends up in Serbia running a magnesite mine, marries a young Slavic woman, still writes half-literate postcards to Basil asking him to come look at a "beautiful green stone" he found, and eventually dies in a remote Balkan village while laughing and grabbing the bedsheets, refusing a priest on his deathbed.  

And what do you think of me? What impression would you build of me reading my my perspective of the film? Me as a person, where would you put me? Be clear if you think I am I am like more like the gentleman that I am scared of things and just over overthink things just as a defense, then say it out loud. If you think I am Zorba, like say it out loud, give me all my weaknesses and good points, but be more practical, don't nitpick, just tell me the overall thing.

Listen to how you talked about approaching the Widow in your notes. You said you would have walked right up to her with confidence—specifically because you judged her as "average or a little less than average" and didn't want anything from her. When you don't want anything from a woman, you feel safe, steady, and in control. The moment real desire or attraction enters the room, your threat-detection radar spikes: What if she expects commitment? What if I get trapped in an obligation that ruins me? That is a sophisticated defense mechanism. Pre-calculating the end of a relationship before you even say hello isn't pure strategic wisdom; it is a preemptive strike against losing control.  

You don't accept the cultural script you're handed. While most people watch Zorba and clap like seals at the "fun, carefree Greek guy," you immediately noticed the rotting corpses of the two women left in their wake and asked why nobody gave a damn the next morning. You strip away performative aesthetics—whether it’s modern social media facades or Hollywood charisma—and look directly at incentives, power dynamics, and actual outcomes

Unlike Zorba, you actually care about the blast radius of your actions. You recognize that words, touch, and attention carry weight, and you refuse to lie to someone just to have an easy night. That makes you fundamentally more trustworthy and structurally sound than a guy like Zorba, who leaves wreckage behind him and calls it "living in the moment."  

A true Basil rationalizes his cowardice and calls it "civilization" or "politeness." You looked at Basil’s passivity and felt disgusted by it because you actively despise weakness in yourself and others. You are consciously pushing yourself out of your head and into the real world, testing your own assumptions and forcing yourself to engage rather than just observe from a safe distance.  

You are a guy with a heavy analytical engine who has realized that living purely in your head is a sterile dead end. You want to feel the blood in your veins like Zorba, without becoming a reckless fool who burns down his own life or hurts people carelessly

Your main bottleneck right now isn't a lack of intelligence or physical courage; it is over-insuring yourself against emotional entanglement. You don't need to fear that showing warmth to a woman will "obligate and ruin" you. A man who truly trusts his own spine doesn't need to stay detached to stay free—he can dive all the way into a moment, give genuine warmth, and still trust himself to say a calm, honest "no" later if the dynamic goes somewhere he doesn't want to go.  
Stop using long-term forecasting to talk yourself out of first-step spontaneity. Trust that you are strong enough to handle the fallout if someone gets the wrong idea, rather than rationing your warmth upfront just to keep the ledger clean

“Trust that you are strong enough to handle..”

You want human warmth, presence, and spontaneity, provided it stays clean, logical, and doesn't demand anything inconvenient from you tomorrow. Real life—and real women—don't work like clean code. When you hold back from showing warmth because you're terrified a woman will immediately attach expectations to you, you are letting the fear of future friction paralyze your present. That is the exact trap Basil lives in, just dressed up in more pragmatic, self-reliant logic.

So to be a better person what advice would you suggest me because of bad experience in my past causes all these things if my subconscious knows that if I get into a messy relationship my  honor and obligation won't let me get out quickly without feeling like I am a cheat so what it does is it it puts even the it puts all the gets at the beginning

Right now, your internal contract says: "If I share genuine warmth or intimacy with someone, and they get attached, I am now morally responsible for their feelings and obligated to stay—or else I used them."

A cheat or a manipulator lies about their intentions to extract something (like Basil writing the fake marriage letter, or a guy promising a future just to get laid). If you are completely honest in the present—not making fake promises, not selling a fantasy—and you later realize the relationship isn't right for you and walk away, you have not cheated anyone. The other person might feel disappointed or sad, and that is painful to watch, yet disappointment is the standard tuition of adult dating. Being an honorable man means never lying to get someone into bed or into your life; it does not mean sacrificing your life to protect another adult from ever feeling rejected.

The boundary doesn't belong before you smile or connect; it belongs the moment the dynamic starts shifting from "we are enjoying right now" to "what are we doing next week?"  

Okay, and the last question, uh, any meta info about this movie and all. The reason I watched the movie was, I think, Osho used to mention it, and I was curious, and I think it was a good movie. A lot of discussions and all came out of it. Yeah, good movie, not like something very new I learned, but still, uh, gives me a review of my current progress. But you also mentioned one of the actor, the hotel owner got Oscar. So I was just curious what was the meta information about the movie, its impact, and anything interesting.

The movie was a massive sleeper hit in 1964, nominated for 7 Oscars and winning 3

Damnn