Customer Reviews

Hungarian Rhapsody (1979) [VHS]

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Miklos Jancsó is considered one of the important directors in world cinema, yet his works are rarely seen. This one of Jancso's works dealing with the relationships between the classes in pre-revolutionary Hungary. Set in 1911, the film follows Istvan, a nobleman who joins ranks with the peasants in opposition to the ruling class in general, and his statesman brother in particular. It's highly symbolic (it felt like a weird, over-serious play). Lots of dancing, singing, on plains with nude women dancing around for no apparent reason. I often couldn't figure out what it was symbolic of, however. One thing I can say is that the filmmaking is quite different than anything you'll see today -- quite stylized with very long takes. However, I enjoyed Elektra, My Love (also on Amazon) quite bit more than Hungarian Rhapsody. With Gyorgy Cserhalmi, Lajos Balaszovits and Gabor Koncz. Hungarian with English subtitles.

Addendum: kinoeye.org has about the best Eastern European film reviews and analysis that I've seen and has a long discussion of this film in relation to Jancso's other films. Your appreciation of Magyar Rapszódia would almost certainly be enhanced by reading this first, so that you have some idea of what Jancso was trying to accomplish.