Its main character is a simple man, a dike guard, who is caught up in the propaganda campaigns of the early Stalinist (pre-1956) communist regime. After several grotesque episodes, he is chosen to be a witness in a show trial of a disgraced communist - but he fails to play his role when he sees the previou false witness, the never punished ex-fascist who happened to be the one who during WWII broke all his teeth during an interrogation... *Lunatic*, n. One whose delusions are out of fashion.
Only? I am mortified!... :-) Seriously, it deserves every 10 it got.
And the synopsis sounds interesting.
The best is not the story, but that almost everything they say in the film is a quotable grotesqueness all in itself. Several lines became integrated into the Hungarian language.
Do you know if there is a German version?
The film's problem on the international stage was that it was indexed for ten years - when it came out (both in some theatres at home and some film festivals), it was 'old' and thus didn't got the attention a new film would have. (But I am told those who saw it wrote ravish critiques.) So sorry I am not much of a help here - I am not sure it was ever shown in Germany outside a film festival. But maybe some arthouse film library does have it. *Lunatic*, n. One whose delusions are out of fashion.
