Even though earlier Hungarian films by Szabo (presented in this program) also
won international awards, it is a less known fact that they are at least as
valuable works of art as his later co-productions that reached wider world
audience.

István Szabó, one of the great European directors, is first of all famous for
his films from the ‘80s, made as opulent West German-Hungarian-Austrian
co-productions: Mephisto (1981), Oberst Redl (1985)
and Hanussen (1988).They won numerous prestigious international
awards and caused great interest with the audience. A constant theme from the
author’s opus is present in all of these films: destiny of an interesting
individual who is at first used by a social system (in the first and third film
Nazi system and in the second Austro-Hungarian), which allows him certain
privileges, only to finally be destroyed by it. Younger audiences could be
familiar with the equally attractive film, Sunshine (1999) also made as a
co-production between a few countries. The film is a story about the destiny of
a Hungarian Jewish family from the last few years of the Austro-Hungarian
monarchy until the fall of Communist regime in Hungary. In Croatia, it went
straight to video and television, which says a lot about the change of theatre
screening policy and not about this film’s value. With this film Szabo won a
Golden Globe for the best director.

Even though earlier Hungarian films by Szabo (presented in this program) also
won international awards, it is a less known fact that many critics claim that
they are at least as valuable works of art as the later co-productions that
reached wider world audience. These Hungarian films are in a certain way more
consistent, because they were made in a system when producers did not care about
their commercial success. Also, constant threat of censorship led the author to
be more inventive in the search for a technique with which to indirectly – which
in film is always a better way, and in those times enabled the escape from
ideological condemnation - show his view of life when crucial historical moments
and dramatic social changes break ideals and very often destroy lives of
individuals.

In his debut Álmodozások kora (1966), award in Locarno for the best
debut) that happens to a young generation facing real life.

For his most personal film, Apa (1967), he shared the Grand prix
in Moscow and in Locarno won the special jury award. In this film he used
autobiographical elements in creation of his main character (played by András
Bálint) who investigates the death of his prematurely deceased father.

He used such strong emotional tension in a different manner in his masterpiece
Szerelmesfilm (1970) which greatly shaped the belief that Hungarian
cinematography of that time was one of the leading in Europe. Complex
relationships in Hungary were shown as a love story happening in Paris. In 1956,
after the rebellion in Hungary, a Hungarian and a girl who just emigrated from
Hungary, fall in love.

Perhaps his best film,Bizalom (1980) won the Silver Bear
for the best director in Berlin), is also an unusual love story about two people
at the end of the WW II. Even though they have never seen each other before,
they have to pretend to be married in order to escape prison. One of Szabo’s
constant traits is evident here: showing only echoes and consequences of
horrific events on human psyche, he achieves a more tragic impression than he
would if he was to visually create those horrors. (Tomislav Kurelec)