On October 23, the world will commemorate the fiftieth anniversary of the Hungarian Uprising of 1956. The events of those fateful weeks are of course well known: protests that began in solidarity with striking workers in Poland turned into more widespread demands for reforms in the Hungarian government — and for some, those demands included an end to communist control. The Soviet forces stationed in Hungary eventually acted to put down the growing protests — and the rest is tragic history. Thousands of Hungarians were killed, many more were arrested or purged, and tens of thousands fled the country; although the uprising would be quelled, nothing could ever be the same again. Throughout Western Europe and beyond, leftist political movements split over the question of Hungary; the Soviets’ brutal repression was the final proof, if one were needed, of the bankruptcy of Moscow-dominated communism. Movements began to spring up that rejected the enforced orthodoxy of the Old Left. Welcome to the 60s…. From October 27 to November 15, the Walter Reade Theater will present three different (but of course related) Hungarian film series. REMEMBERING ‘56 will feature a number of important Hungarian films that have portrayed the Uprising itself or explored its consequences — themes that inspired masterworks such as Time Stands Still or Father. THE CURRENTS OF HISTORY: A TRIBUTE TO MIKLÓS JANCSÓ will be a seven-film salute to Hungary’s greatest director, who we hope will be with us for some of these screenings. Finally, NEW CINEMA FROM HUNGARY will help introduce Hungary’s newest generation of film artists. This series is presented in collaboration with the Film Society at Lincoln Center, the Magyar Filmunió in Budapest.

Resistance and Rebirth:

Hungarian Cinema, 50 Years after ‘56

October 27 – November 16

REMEMBERING ‘56

Father / Apa

István Szabó, 1966; 95m

Szabó’s first mature work, Father, along with Miklós Jancsó The Round-Up heralded the arrival of a revitalized Hungarian cinema. Takó Bence (beautifully played by András Balint) never actually knew his father, who died at the war’s end; but that hasn’t stopped Bence from creating a rich biography for him. Whether it’s running resistance missions with a progressive priest or receiving the adulation of May Day marchers, Bence’s father was at the center of it all — or at least that’s how Bence imagines it. Cunningly mixing a broad array of cinematic styles, Father brilliantly and often humorously captures a moment in which the various myths of the past give way to a more soberly observed present. Described by Szabó as “the autobiography of a generation,” Father was one of the first to include actual footage from the ’56 Uprising —and furthermore to depict those events as a key to understanding contemporary Hungarian youth.

Fri Oct 27: 2; Mon Oct 30: 7:15

A TRIBUTE TO MIKLÓS JANCSÓ

The Red and the White / Csillagosok, Katonak

Miklós Jancsó, Hungary/USSR, 1967; 90m

At the end of WWI, thousands of Hungarian soldiers are prisoners behind Russian lines; the new Bolshevik authorities offer them freedom if they will join the “Reds” in their struggle against the “White” forces still loyal to the Tsar. Some join up out of socialist solidarity, others for the chance to loot the newly “liberated” estates. The Red and the White is the first work in which one can experience the full effect of what became Jancsó’s trademark visual style: extraordinarily long takes complemented by intricate camera movements and dense frames with multiple layers of action — the perfect incarnation of a world in which instability is the rule and treachery the norm. The Red and the White is a haunting, disturbing portrait of a world choked by war.

Fri Oct 27: 4; Mon Oct 30: 9:15

NEW CINEMA FROM HUNGARY

Moscow Square / Moszkva Ter

Ferenc Török, 2001; 88m

The release of Ferenc Török’s debut Moscow Square seemed to announce the arrival of a new sensibility in Hungarian cinema, one that corresponded to a generation that had entirely grown up in the post-communist era. It’s April, 1989; Petya, Kigler, Ságodi and their friends spend their evenings hanging around the clock tower in Moscow Square, while all around them the old regime is on the verge of collapse. Everyone feels that something is about to happen: the question is whether they make it happen or just wait for whatever’s coming. For some like Petya and his girlfriend Zsófi, the new world means getting out of Hungary and getting to know the wide world. Few films have more effectively captured that sense of life on the eve a momentous political and social transformation— that unsettling combination of giddy optimism for the future and creeping fear of the unknown. Török cast his film largely with unknowns either from local high schools or the Academy of Drama.

Fri Oct 27: 6; Tue Oct 31: 3: 25

REMEMBERING ‘56

Refuge England

Robert Vas, U.K.; 1959; 27m

Hungary, 1956: Our Revolution

Mark Kidel, U.K., 2006; 60m

Born in Hungary in 1931, Robert Vas escaped to England after the 1956 Uprising; taking advantage of the British Film Institute’s Experimental Film Fund, Vas created Refuge England, a fictional account of a Hungarian refugee’s first day in London. Shot by Walter Lassally, the film captures the man’s loneliness and wonder, as well as his fears and hopes, as he attempts to take in the sights and sounds of his new home. Praised by Karel Reisz and Lindsay Anderson, Refuge England was included in one of their “Free Cinema” programs at London’s National Film Theater. Mark Kidel’s Hungary 1956: OurRevolution, co-produced by BBC and ARTE, explores the 1956 Uprising from a variety of viewpoints: from those who took part in the actual street demonstrations of course, but also from the perspective of the Soviet soldiers sent in to put them down. Politicians, students, factory
workers, as well as employees from Radio Free Europe (who encouraged the rebels from their studios in Munich) offer their memories and impressions, as well as their thoughts on what they did — or should have done — fifty years ago. The film includes archival footage both from official and unofficial sources, as well as some amazing new material from Russia that has only recently been discovered. A terrific, and provocative, introduction to the major events of the 20th century’s watershed moments.

Sat Oct 28: 4; Mon Oct 30: 1

A TRIBUTE TO MIKLÓS JANCSÓ

Electra, My Love / Szerelmem, Elektra

Miklós Jancsó, 1974; 76m

The films of Miklós Jancsó’s, with their fascinating choreography of characters and camera movement, always had a clear affinity to dance, but nowhere was this tendency more visible, nor more remarkable than in his version of Euripides’s drama. The extraordinary Mari Töröcsik plays Electra, who continues to challenge the usurper of her father’s throne, Aegisthos, and claiming it
for her brother, Orestes, long after everyone else has come to accept his power as a fait accompli. Composed of only twelve shots, the film is a constant visual and aural feast, with a constant flow of horse riders galloping across the horizon, peasant girls in traditional costumes or stark naked, or rows of young men cracking whips in synchronized precision filling each frame. “Electra, My Love might be Jancsó’s Hair, an experimental theater piece where the here-and now of Hungary and the Soviet block emerge transparently from the Greek tragedy, and revolution is always in the air. Electra tells ruler Aegisthos ‘it is not you who needs destroying, but the system you built up,’ and the delivery is, accordingly, incantory.”

– Fernando F. Croce, Cinepassion

Sat Oct 28: 6:15; Mon Oct 30: 2:45

NEW CINEMA FROM HUNGARY

Johanna

Kornél Mundruczó, 2005; 86m

One of the most hotly debated films at the 2005 Cannes Film Festival, Johanna begins as the victims of a massive traffic accident are brought into a hospital emergency room. Among the casualties is a young drug addict, Johanna, who sneaks into the pharmacy and overdoses. Saved by the almost miraculous efforts of a young doctor, Johanna fully recovers but has no memory of her past life; instead, she stays to help others by working as a nurse. Yet Johanna’s rather distinctive ways of providing aid and comfort to her patients leads to a confrontation with the hospital’s staff and doctors— including her savior. Orsi Tóth in the title role is superb: she has an otherworldly quality that makes her seem ethereal even when she’s at her most physical. Much of the film was shot in Hungary’s National Institute of Psychiatry and Neurology, a looming, oppressive structure, the perfect image for an unfeeling bureaucracy that director Mundruczó uses as an effective counterpoint to all the passions racing through this moral fable.

Sat Oct 28: 8:15 (plays again in November)

REMEMBERING ‘56

Recsk

Géza Böszörményi & Livia Gyarmathy, 1989; 230m

In 1950, just two years after the ascension of the Hungarian communists to power, a prison camp was set up to intern political dissidents —including independent labor leaders, socialists and even communists who questioned the party’s Stalinist mold. Torture, beatings, psychological and physical humiliation were routine events — not to mention the suffering caused by lack of proper heating, poor nutrition and disease. Then, in 1953, the camp was abruptly closed; those who survived were sent back to their former lives, and the very existence of the camp at Recsk become one of the regime’s darkest secrets, the epitome of the arbitrary, brutal power against which Hungarians would soon revolt. Thirty years later, filmmakers Geza Böszörményi (who had been interned at Recsk) and Livia Gyarmathy interviewed as many “veterans” of Recsk as they could find — not only prisoners, but also guards and even the officials responsible for sending people there. The result was this extraordinary work, a richly, terrifyingly detailed portrait of a prison camp that mirrored the contemporary tensions and divisions in Hungarian life and politics. Winner of the European Film
Award for Best Documentary (1989).

Sun Oct 29: 1

NEW CINEMA FROM HUNGARY

White Palms / Fehér Tenyér

Szabolcs Hajdú, 2006; 103m

Winner of several awards at this year’s Hungarian Film Week, White Palms is based on director Hajdú’s own youthful experiences as an aspiring gymnast. Miklós Dongó (played by the director’s brother, Miklós, a professional gymnast) arrives in Canada to begin work as a coach and trainer for young gymnasts. His career cut short by injury, Miklós is flooded with memories of his own childhood as he starts to work with the talented but confrontational Kyle (played by Olympic medalist Kyle Shewfelt). Miklós sees much of himself in the young man — yet his efforts to perfect Kyle’s skills run up against his own competitive feelings and disappointment in his own career. Avoiding the typical “sports narrative,”with its predictable focus on failure and success, White Palms instead immerses the viewer in the very special world of gymnastics, a kind of secret society with its own rules and conventions, where athletes train endless hours to perform routines that barely last minutes.

Sun Oct 29: 5:30; Tue Oct 31: 1

NEW CINEMA FROM HUNGARY

Dealer

Benedek Fliegauf, 2005; 135m

Dealer tells the uncompromising story of a day in the life of a drug dealer. His clients include the leader of a religious sect, a friend who needs a final fix, a former lover who claims to have had his child, a student, and a black marketeer. Using long sinuous camera movements to narrate his story, Fliegauf brings us into a kind of sensual contact with his protagonist and his daily routine. According to the director, “It was important to create a kind of hypnotic atmosphere because the film takes place not in Budapest, but in an imaginary city with an almost spiritual atmosphere. This necropolis is the actual main character of the film. As the film unfolds, the viewer gradually gets the impression that the protagonist is actually suspended between life and death; the other characters are ghosts, strange zombies condemned to follow the dealer's suffering behind rigid, marionette-like masks. The dealer's personal tragedy gradually unveils a kind of mosaic.”

Sun Oct 29: 7:45; Mon Oct 30: 4:30