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One of the very few Hungarian films I think would deserve to be known globally is Tanú (Witness) - a dark satire made some 35 years ago, first indexed, then put out in limited release, yet achievig lasting fame.

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.

by DoDo on Wed Dec 14th, 2005 at 06:04:47 AM EST
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On imdb, it has an amazing user rating of 9.1. And the synopsis sounds interesting. Do you know if there is a German version?
by Saturday (geckes(at)gmx.net) on Wed Dec 14th, 2005 at 04:02:58 PM EST
[ Parent ]
On  imdb, it has an amazing user rating of 9.1.

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.

by DoDo on Wed Dec 14th, 2005 at 05:16:50 PM EST
[ Parent ]
9.1 is outstanding! Look at the IMDB Top 250. 9.1 is the rating The Godfather got. Which will probably remain in 1st place for the next century...
by Saturday (geckes(at)gmx.net) on Thu Dec 15th, 2005 at 03:53:50 AM EST
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