The first Greek director, who spoke openly for what Greece is all about, is Costas Gavras. Deeply political, Gavras studied in France from where his career was launched. A graduate of the Institut des Hautes Etudes Cinematographiques, Gavras' first feature "The Sleeping Car Murders" (1965), based on Sebastien Japrisot's popular thriller, was received by critics as a routine. However, it already heralds two characteristics of his later work: gripping narrative and major stars, Yves Montand and Simone Signoret. His success came with three of his next films, "Z" (1969), "L'Aveu / The Confession" (1970) and "Etat de Siege / State of Siege" (1973). In all three Yves Montand stars; all three combine the clarity, pace and drama of popular cinema with political issues, respectively Greek dictatorship, Communist totalitarianism and American imperialism. By the early 1980s, Hollywood, looking for a director who could bring a balanced vision to the story of a missing American in Chile, hired him to direct "Missing". He brought the same sense of balance to the political tensions in "The Music Box", in which starred Jessica Lange as a lawyer out to defend her father of the accusations that he was a war criminal. In his latest film, "Mad City", Dustin Hoffman stars as a former network television reporter who, having been banished to a small city's station for insubordination, believes he can take advantage of a hostage situation to get back to the "big time". In the movie, John Travolta co-stars as the hostage-taker.