Customer Reviews

Guilty of Treason

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This film tells the early story of Cardinal Mindszenty's ordeal. Since it was made in 1950 shortly after his show trial and sentence to life in prison, it is incomplete. It could hardly be otherwise.

Mindszenty wasn't released from prison until the Hungarian upraising in 1956 and afterwards he was under voluntary house arrest at the American Embassy for years. The cardinal remained an icon of peaceful resistance to Communist tyranny and ultimately became an embarrassment to the Hungarian government that wanted to be rid of him. He was finally asked to leave Hungary by Pope Paul VI and he made his home in Vienna until his death in 1975, although he continued to speak out vigorously against Communism.

The movie is a real thriller, all the more because it is based on true events. Although the film could not tell the complete story since it had not yet played out, it demonstrated the courage and integrity of Cardinal Mindszenty. It also illustrated a different era when the press was interested in digging out the truth and proclaiming it to the world. One would have a hard time recognizing most of today's liberal journalists in Tom Kelly, the reporter in the movie.

One of the most interesting aspects of the film for me was the question of making a choice. Several characters have to decide where they will stand. The young Russian officer and the music teacher each is faced with a choice. Will they choose truth and goodness or go along with evil, either actively or passively? The same questions they faced face our own generation as we deal with moral issues like abortion, assisted suicide, and euthanasia. Where will we draw the line? Will we address the problems of our day with the character of Cardinal Mindszenty or that of the Russian bureaucrats?

It's a great film!

I was quite disappointed with this documentary/movie. It only told half of the story of Cardinal Josef Mindszenty's heroism and sanctity. It was very short and ends by saying he was sentenced to prison. Nothing about his having been rescued from prison by freedom fighters, his boycott by the American Embassy staff, his removal from office as Cardinal by Pope Paul VI because he refused to keep silent on the evil of communism, and his courage, even in exile from his beloved Hungary, to travel the world and show everyone the true face of communism. I guess we will have to wait for someone like Mel Gibson to make such a movie on this truly holy Catholic martyr of the 20th Century.