"Nigel Hawthorne - Lord "cucuface" Covington"

"Stéhane Audrun - Lady Marie-Gilberte Covington"

"Jean-Louis Trintignant - The Examining Magistrate (based on Christos Sartzetakis)"

"Yves Montand - The Deputy (Grigoris Lambrakis) / Z"

"Irene Papas - Helene (Roula Lambrakis – the Deputy's wife)"

"Pierre Dux - The General (Konstantinos Mitsou)"

"Jacques Perrin - Photojournalist (composite character, partly based on Giorgos Bertsos)"

"Charles Denner - Manuel (Manolis Glezos)"

"They struck me. Why? Why do the ideas we stand for incite such violence? Why is peace intolerable to them? Why don't …"

"A single cannon is fired and a teacher's monthly salary goes up in smoke."