The prestige of Hungarian politicians generally declined in 2009 but their ranking remained by and large unchanged over the past year, national daily Nepszabadsag said on Wednesday, citing a recent Szonda Ipsos poll.
Hungary’s relatively most popular politician is President Laszlo Solyom, leading the list with 47 points on a scale of one to 100, with 100 the highest score.
The president is trailed by opposition Fidesz leader Viktor Orban with 45 points in second place and former house speaker Katalin Szili with 38 percent in third place.
By way of comparison, Hungary’s most popular politician usually topped the list with a score well over 60 points four years ago.
The popularity indicator of government politicians declined by an average 5 to 6 percent last year. Of the opposition parties, leaders of the small liberal SZDSZ and conservative MDF had to book the biggest loss while Orban and his fellow party leader Laszlo Kover by and large retained their support.
Prime Minister Gordon Bajnai tops the lowest third of the list with 27 points, just like a month ago.
All prime minister candidates named by the parties finished in the midfield. Lajos Bokros of MDF, Attila Mesterhazy of the ruling Socialist Party and Gabor Vona of the radical nationalist Jobbik party all garnered 30 percent support. As compared to the November figures, Mesterhazy beefed up support by 2 percent and Vona by 1 percent while Bokros’s popularity remained unchanged.
The poll was conducted from December 1 to 7 on a sample of 1,500 adults.
HUNGARIANS IN HOLLYWOOD
MICHAEL CURTIZ (KERTÉSZ MIHÁLY) REMEMBERED- A BIRTHDAY CELEBRATION
Today marks the birthday anniversary of Hungarian born directorial genius Michael Curtiz. This will be a great Christmas treat as well, as I have a number of fun films to share with you all from youtube.
Curtiz was a heavy volume producer, and made a lot of films. His Hungarian output amounted to 43 films, his Austrian and German period covered 21 films, and his Hollywood phase came to about a 100 flicks. That is one hell of a film resume. No wonder he was so good at directing; he got a lot of practice!
He was born December 24, 1886 in Budapest. He told some unverified tales about his early life, such as joining the circus at 17, as well as joining the Hungarian fencing team for the 1912 Olympics.
It is believed that he studied at the School for Dramatic Arts in 1906, and worked in Pécs and Szeged. He also studied at the Royal Academy of Theatre and Art in Budapest. He started as actor and director in the Hungarian National Theater in 1912, also working on his first Hungarian film that year.
In 1913 he went to Denmark to work at the Nordisk Studio on a film called “Atlantis”, considered one of the first full length epic films. (Most movies then were two reel shorts) After finishing that project, he returned to Budapest and got busy in the Hungarian film industry.
It is most unfortunate that almost all 43 of his Hungarian films are lost. So much of our silent film legacy is gone, but I always hold out hope that some of it may turn up and be restored. A couple of reasons explain why most of it has not survived. In those days, film was developed with silver nitrate. So much silver was used that it became profitable to destroy the film stock and recover the silver. The other reason was that film then was made from celluloid, which meets all the criteria for being regarded as a highly hazardous substance. Celluloid, printed with nitrate, was capable of igniting into a raging fire, even while sitting in storage. A combination of dry air and static was often all it took. The film also ignited from the heat of the projector lamp. Flaming celluloid can be dipped in water, which only temporarily douses the fire. When you remove it from the water, the fire resumes! It’s nasty stuff!
Once a movie had it’s run, it wasn’t considered safe or sensible to just keep storing it, it was like keeping gasoline in your bedroom. Unlike Hollywood, the Hungarian film industry couldn’t afford indefinite storage. It wasn’t until “safety film” was invented in the sound era, that these hazards were gotten around. Hollywood had another advantage; they would often print a copy of the film on paper and submit it to the Library of Congress for copyright. Many silent era classics have been restored from a paper print.
Even if an old celluloid print from that era is found, you often find that by now it has undergone decomposition. In some cases, the images are beyond recovery. Considerable digital restoration is often needed to restore the image quality.
In 1914 Curtiz went to Transylvania and got involved with a couple of Hungarian film companies in Kolozsvár, one of them being the Jenő Janovics Film Factory. He returned to Budapest in 1915 and worked for Kinoriport and the Phönix film company until 1918. In 1919 he filmed an adaptation of a poem by Antal Farkas called “Jön az öcsém”.
The awful events of 1919 affected him and many of his fellow actors. Along with Béla Lugosi, he was instrumental in the formation of an actors union. The coming of Horthy caused him to flee to Austria, along with Lugosi. Horthy hated union organizers and every shade of pink and red. Like Lugosi, Curtiz never dared return to Hungary.
Curtiz got film work in Austria and Germany during this period. He directed a big biblical epic called “Sodom und Gomorrha”(1922). The film got worldwide distribution and got for him the attention of Hollywood.
Germany had a truly great film industry back then, driven by genius level talent. Hollywood had the serious money to lure them with, and engaged in predatory hiring. Curtiz was among those who got an offer that was hard to refuse, and so headed for Hollywood in 1926 to work for the Warner Bros. studio.
Jack Warner saw one of Curtiz’s German biblical epics called the “Sklavenkönigin”(The Slave Queen-1924), and got him working on “Noah’s Ark”(1928) America was a religious country, and so the 1920’s became the heyday of bible based film extravaganzas. It was also a Puritanical society. “Bible flicks” owed much of their popularity to the depictions of nudity, orgies, depraved violence and vice, as the bible was the only safe context for filming such scenes without running into censorship problems.
Throughout the 1930’s he often worked on as many as 4 films a year. He made 12 films with Errol Flynn and 8 with Humphrey Bogart. He received 4 Best Director Oscar nominations, and won the Best Director Oscar in 1943 with “Casablanca”. Casablanca is a cult film with undying appeal, and Curtiz’s involvement with it guarantees his own immortality. It is often listed as one of the top most favorite films in polls of critics and the public alike. Ten actors won Best Actor Oscars starring in his films. This man turned out the gold, in more ways than one.
His style has been characterized by fluid camera work, off angles, overhead shots and textured lighting of facial close-ups. He believed that faces, and how they were lit and shot, were a crucial part of a film. Actors who could project a lot of intensity and personality with their eyes and expressions, like Bogart, Ingrid Bergman and Joan Crawford, were at a great advantage working with him.
Curtiz made so many great films, and remained busy to the end of his life, making his last one just one year before his death in 1962.
FAMOUS QUOTES:
“The next time I want an idiot to do this, I’ll do it myself!”
(about Bette Davis):
“goddamned nothing no good sexless son of a bitch”
Biography:
Rosenzweig, Sidney. Casablanca and Other Major Films of Michael Curtiz. Ann Arbor, Mich.: UMI Research Press, 1982.
And now the films by which this great man will be remembered. May they give you all great pleasure for a long time to come!
The MAD GENIUS – Original Trailer 1931
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=SLeXgRHGxQY
Trailer only, with John Barrymore
THE CABIN IN THE COTTON (1932)
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=weIHClTkRQY
Full movie in 9 parts.
A poignant drama set on a cotton plantation, telling a story about the difficulties of tenant farmers vs. a large landowner. At a time when most studios specialized in escapism, the Warners forte was making gritty films, often based upon real life issues, like gangsters, crime and social drama.
DOCTOR X (1932)
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=EvuvskUj52E
Full film in 8 parts, with Lionel Atwill and Fay Wray (the King Kong girl)
This is one of favs! It was a mystery/horror film shot in an early 2 strip Technicolor process, which looks artificial and enhances the creepy atmosphere. Technicolor was invented in the early 1920’s, but could only combine 2 of the three primary colors (red, blue and green), hence it was called “2 strip”. Full mixture of the 3 primary colors wasn’t possible until 1934.
Note the influence of German Expressionism in the set design in this and in the film about the Wax Museum.
MYSTERY OF THE WAX MUSEUM (1933)
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=utBRHZLuMco&feature=PlayList&p=07E98D628DE249B0&index=0&playnext=1
Full film in 8 parts with Lionell Atwill and Fay Wray
Another one of my favorites! Also shot entirely in an early Technicolor process. The colors look cartoonish, but that doesn’t hurt this film at all! What is it about wax museums? I think they are inherently creepy and weird, especially given that the exhibits often deal with torture and killers. They were a staple film setting for madmen and murder for many years.
THE KENNEL MURDER CASE (1933)
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=xyuNnsG11gc&feature=PlayList&p=1E31FA4DB633F110&index=0&playnext=1
Full movie in 7 parts
This is the type of atmospheric murder mystery that was turned out in large numbers by the industry back then. Features William Powell, who later starred in the famed “Thin Man” series, and Mary Astor, who later appeared in the immortal film “The Maltese Falcon”(1941).
JIMMY THE GENT (1934)
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=LivEwuJk9_Y
Full movie in 7 parts
A comedy/drama featuring the great and talented James Cagney. Also with Bette Davis (see quote above) The only thing I’ll say about that is that she was an actress more liked by women rather than men.
FRONT PAGE WOMAN (1935)
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=LivEwuJk9_Y
Full movie in 8 parts
A comedy featuring Bette Davis and George Brent. Film is based on a book called “Women Are Bum Newspapermen” by Richard Macauley.
CAPTAIN BLOOD (1935)
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=O-jg2Hpwv9o&feature=PlayList&p=486669769D0835DD&index=0&playnext=1
Full movie in 12 parts
The first of 12 movies made with Errol Flynn, who specialized in adventure roles. Story of a 17th century doctor turned pirate. (Something about that idea that resonates!)
ANGELS WITH DIRTY FACES (1938)
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=FCjwHN8Eh-E&feature=PlayList&p=5BEA96FF47123046&playnext=1&playnext_from=PL&index=35
Full movie in 7 parts
A very fine drama featuring James Cagney, Humphrey Bogart and Pat O’Brien. A must see with a very dramatic ending. Great movie to show to youngsters, showing them the value of not messing up their lives with bad choices.
THE PRIVATE LIVES OF ELIZABETH AND ESSEX (1939)
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=fstrM466kfc&feature=related
An interesting, big budget historical drama featuring Bette Davis as Queen Elizabeth I and Errol Flynn as the Earl of Essex. Because of copyright issues, the audio has been disabled in the first two parts, with subtitles inserted. Sound is available in part 3 onward. Posted by “houzan8”, I have no idea how many parts there are, as he/she seems to repeat segments up to at least 21 parts. Some people have no common sense; you’re on your own with this one.
THE SEA WOLF (1941)
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=i1cVf_b2UaM&feature=PlayList&p=FC24C31AB6FC9AF9&index=0&playnext=1
Complete film in 10 parts
Based on a novel by Jack London, with Edward G Robinson
CASABLANCA (1941)
Unfortunately, I can’t furnish a link to the entire film. It’s often been posted in the past, and each time it gets yanked. The copyright holder to the film is very zealous about doing this. Sooner or later every clip from this film on youtube will get the plug pulled. “Terms of use violation”
Play It Sam
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=7vThuwa5RZU
A 4 minute segment featuring the famous song, “As Time Goes By”. Other fragments of the film are on youtube; enjoy them while they last.
The background to the film was the state of Europe in 1941, with many people on the Nazi shit-list trying desperately to get out of a Europe that has become German occupied. You couldn’t leave through fascist Italy, nor Franco ruled Spain. That only left an escape route from southern “Vichy” France and from there to Vichy controlled Morocco. From there an exit visa was required to get to Lisbon, as Portugal was neutral. From Lisbon you could then go to the US or anywhere else. Obtaining the official permits for taking this roundabout route was difficult and expensive.
MILDRED PIERCE (1945)
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=tx_a9wtRzzs&feature=PlayList&p=70BD0826B8BB8B4C&playnext=1&playnext_from=PL&index=8
In 7 parts so far; incomplete as the poster is still putting the film on youtube piecemeal
This is a fine drama that helped revive the career of Joan Crawford after she left MGM for Warners. Any parent who has knocked themselves out for their ungrateful brats ought to relate to this film. Crawford was an intense and wired woman both on screen and off; it shows when you look at her.
WHITE CHRISTMAS (1954)
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=_Yz9mM9zqhQ
Complete film in 12 parts
A Christmas holiday classic with Irving Berlin’s famous title tune. With Bing Crosby, who put it over well.
KING CREOLE (1958)
With Elvis Presley, set in the New Orleans French Quarter. Unfortunately, the entire film is not on youtube, but here is a great song clip from it; a song called “Trouble”:
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=DiZlG_ln8ko&feature=related
It’s amazing how many show business superstars Curtiz got to work with! This was the youthful early Elvis, singing a 1950’s R & B.
Folks, this concludes my Curtiz celebration. It is so much fun for me, as I hope it will be for you as well. You have many hours of great film entertainment here to enjoy over the holiday season! Bookmark this thread and I hope you will treasure it!
I have enjoyed the interaction with you all over the past year! I wish to extend personal Christmas blessings and New Years best wishes to all my readers and to my correspondents:
Cinead, Law, Olga, Zsuzsa, Wolfi, Viking, Pávaszem, Attilla, Sandor, Elle, Curious George, Sophist, Mark, C’est Moi, Vándorló, QC, Bobscountrybunker, Chris, Ricsi and others who I may have forgotten-
And last but not least, to Erik D’Amato!
Thanks for all the info Nagybásci, FL!!
I am increasingly drawn to watching those classic films because of the rubbish on TV.
My favorite is “The Third Man” shot in black and white starring Orson Wells.
I think it was part of the London Films collection.
The studio that the Hungarian director, Alexander
Korda was associated with.
I know you have a wealth of information on all subjects and, perhaps, the leisure and interest aspects might be more appropriately presented on one of the other four sites. Worth considering?
You are a pivotal player and the most important one too!
I think you can generate a lot more traffic/business for Erik’s current set up.
Enjoy the holiday. And look forward to some interesting articles in the New Year.
Merry Christmas.
@ All
Wishing all of you a very Merry Christmas and a Happy New Year.
Erik – Thank you for this website’s “free education” since last September.
Quite an eye opener – Wow!
Hi Sandor!
Thanks very much! Film often does manage to intersect with history and politics. The “Third Man”, made right after the war and filmed on location in Vienna, shows in detail what Hitlers war and ambitions ended up doing to a great and cultured city. Evidence of battle damage and ruined buildings are evident throughout the film.
I’ve been thinking that I could discuss with Erik
the placement of my Hungarians In Hollywood series. I chose this particular thread for no reason at all, expect that it had no initial posts. Maybe in the future he can dedicate a seperate thread, complete with a theme picture at the header that I can provide. The next one is going to be actress Vilma Bánky on Jan 9! Also, I won’t forget the Kordas!
Seeing this is the post for random comments… thank-you Laci… may I take the opportunity of wishing all the Politics.hu team, and all my friends and not-so-much-friends here a very Merry Christmas and a Happy New Year!
@FL:
Many thanks for that info – “brother in name” – I just read somewhere that “Farkas” also was used as a first name in Hungary…
“Der dritte Mann” is also one of my all-time favorite films, it was very important in Germany after the war and of course in Austria…
About two years ago we found an English version on DVD with Hungarian subtitles for my wife – some of the dialogue in Vienna being in Austrian dialect (very funny!).
Once again – leaving all political differences apart – I wish everybody a peaceful holiday and a Happy New Year!
Oh ok then… just because I’m feeling festive…
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=gFz79SBnuk8
Thnak you Wolfi, and a Merry Cristmas to you too!
Like I was telling Sandor, film so often interfaces with hitorical and political themes. In “Der Dritte Mann” (The Third Man, 1949), one is reminded that not just Germany, but Austria and Vienna were also divided into four allied zones of occupation, including a Soviet sector. A little remembered fact today.
Dear Bob,
I really appreciate your contribution! You are a special person to pick up on this at this moment! It’s funny that while I was reading wolfi’s poat above, I was just thinking of that heavenly zither music in the Third Man! And then your post followed-good show!
This is a fine holiday celebration for us all. It is also a great birthday tribute to the man who inspired this movie discussion!
For those of you who have not seen the “Third Man”(1949), I’ve decided to provide the youtube links that would enable you to enjoy this very great film classic.
The stamp of several geniuses have made their mark upon this remarkable film. It was based on a book by noted novelist Graham Greene. It was produced and directed by Carol Reed, but famed Hungarian film genius Alexander Korda was thought to be an uncredited producer, while Orson Wells was the uncredited film director as well as star. The memorable zither music score was played by Anton Karas. Bobscountrybunker has posted for us live footage of Karas performing the theme song, which topped the international music charts in 1950.
(The zither is a folk music instrument native to Austria and southern Germany. It sounds like a guitar with open tuning, but given that it has over 20 strings, it is capable of far more harmonic richness than a 6 string guitar. It is played flat like a Hawaiian slide or steel guitar.)
The Vienna of 1949 was hardly recovered from the ravages of WW2. One sees the utterly splendid old buildings, pockmarked with shrapnel scars, like so many buildings in Budapest. Rubble strewn lots abound, and the population is shown getting by. A baron now plays the violin in a bistro, blackmarketeers abound and the “Wirtschaftswunder” is still a few years away.
Enjoy, this is a brilliant film!
THE THIRD MAN (1949)
Introduction:
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=te9fqm6rUPY
(Rest of film by another poster)
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=tT8ZmuwlOLk&feature=PlayList&p=89B70CA9180FE38A&playnext=1&playnext_from=PL&index=32
Full film in 10 parts, does not include the classic zither music introduction. (See above, first link)
What a fantastic knowledge of all things under the sun, Farkas László!
I have The Third Man film on DVD. What a film!!!
Especially the part where they are chasing Harry Lime,(Orson welles) in the sewers.
I am glad the zither music was mentioned along with the player Anton Karas.
I am a musician (guitarist and pianist) and love the sound of the zither which was used to great effect in the film.
Keep up the good work Nagybácsi. You are most definitely a star!
I messed up and posted the wrong youtube link for the Curtiz directed film,
FRONT PAGE WOMAN (1935)
With Bette Davis.
Try
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=uZHNBG_dLOg
Full film in 8 parts.
Mistakes happen when when so much information and links are copied and pasted!
Dear Farkas Laszlo and friends I offer you peace and
joyful Christmas season, the Christmas Spirit of
Forgiveness, the very spirit that awakens people to
the possibility of starting life afresh, of starting
a new day, with the birth of Christ. Amen Adjon az
Isten..
So many people believe that Jesus was born in the
fullness of personal Christhood and with a full
remembrance of his divine origin and mission. This
is far from being the case. Although his soul did
have great spiritual attainment at inner levels,
he was born with no particular remembrance of
this. He did have a very strong intuition, but he
had to gradually discover his spiritual identity
and spiritual mission. Therefore, I can assure you
that his life was not different from or easier
than the life of most other human beings on this
Earth. Everyone faces the challenge of discovering
his or her true identity and of deciding whether
to fulfill his or her spiritual mission.
Therefore, the correct way to approach the
celebration of Christmas is to see the story of
Jesus life as a symbol for the stages that every
soul goes through as the Christ child is born
within that soul and eventually grows to the full
maturity, at which the soul can express its
personal Christhood in this world. Jesus was born
as a helpless baby, as is every other human being.
No human being suddenly walks from an
unenlightened state of consciousness into the
fullness of Christ consciousness. For spiritually
inclined people, there does come a specific time
in a person’s life when the Christ consciousness
is born within that person. This is an inner
experience in which the soul senses that there is
more to life, more to reality and more to his or
her own identity than the normal human
consciousness.
Kedves Law,
I wish you a Merry Christmas as well, and a happy new year!
Given that this thread started as a commeorative to a film maker, Michael Curtiz, I researched our film history to see if I could find a Hungarian classic film equivalent to western holiday films like a “Christmas Carol”, “Miracle on 34th Street”, “Christmas In Connecticut” etc. In the Horthy years, we made a lot of films, but so far as I could determine, we just did not make films like that back then.
This is an interesting point. Classic Christmas films in the anglo-saxon world are underpinned by associations of the holiday to gift giving and presents. It may be nominally about love, cheer and good will, but at the end of the film, people are opening presents provided by some Santa or some rich person who has had a moral conversion.
For us, especially then, the holiday had to be about personal feelings and family ties, rather than commercialization and commerce. The way Christmas has come to be celebrated in Anglo countries is the way of rich, materialistic societies. Sometimes I wish we could have reduced the holiday to plastic Santas and expensive presents- that’s when you know you have too much of a good thing- to even know it.
The poetry of Adi Endre always makes me cry. He gives off a wave and a vibe, the sign of a real genius poet. Here is his take on Christmas, in Hungarian:
Ady Endre: Karácsony
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=941ka-nI3uw
Hi Farkas Laszlo
Csodálatos magyar film!!
Emberek a havason-1942 1.rész
Keves Rudolf!
Nagyon szépen köszönöm!!
We can learn so much from one another! Rudolf has given us a reference to a 1942 Hungarian film “Emberek A Havason”(People of the Snows). What makes this a great contribution is that the film is subtitled in English for the benefit of those who don’t know Hungarian.
In 11 parts:
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=Sj08FbcIJcE&feature=PlayList&p=360F35DB22AAA40F&index=10
Well done Rufolf!
Nice film.
It is easy to understand that it was not banned
later under the Communists then it had a social
pathos and also the religious theme was more anti-
church and mixed with pagan behavior.
The simple man against the new development, the
poor man on the countryside against the State
Representatives for Law and Order, regardless if
it was a Doctor or a Judge or the Gendarmes.
Universal themes that resonance with most people.
-
I found an alternative year, 1941 instead of 1942
and that it was part of the EUphory.hu Festival in
May-August 2004 to celebrate Hungary joining the
EU.
(http://www.filmintezet.hu/uj/english/orokmozgo/ar
chivum/2004.html)
Hi Viking,
Let’s try this:
(http://www.filmintezet.hu/uj/english/orokmozgo/ar
chivum/2004.html)
It didn’t work.
Try turning off your virus protection temporarily by right clicking on the program icon on your bottom right screen. That may be preventing the pasting of hyperlinks.
http://www.filmintezet.hu/uj/english/orokmozgo/archivum/2004.html
-
Should be just one row.
I tried Google Chrome temporary before, now with another browser.
I watched “Emberek A Havason”. Being now a nation of the low lying plain, how interesting to see a mountainous Hungary, with mountain dwelling Hungarians! The story is set in the Székely country, now in Romania.
It is indeed a Christmas film, although not in the Hollywood mold, which always required a happy ending. (The “feel good effect” was important to box office returns.)Hollywood would have redone the script and had the managment of the lunber company make make peace with everyone at the end, a feast would have been held with presents.The need for class warfare would have been eliminated! But then given what a miserable people we were, such an ending would have been considered stupid and phony.
In the film, the mother is raped and dies, the father killed, and at the end the orphan child is taken to a manger re-enactment put on for him by the villagers. The message was that we must bear whatever happens, till the end of the world. Shit happens, but hang in there. It was a message that the film audience could draw upon in the awful years after 1942. Ho ho ho, Hungarian style.
The film risked fueling poor vs. rich class resentment, something a bit risky under Horthy. But then the Communists would not have appreciated the heavy religious feeling and piety. The film seems a bit out of place for it’s time, caught between two regimes.
Touching a baby to a pine tree in dedication might have been an old pagan custom.
The outbreak of World War II, in which Hungary
found itself allied with Germany until it made a
disastrous attempt to change sides near the end,
saw an Pa unexpected increase in film production,
combined with a ban on importing American films in
1942. Production increased to a total of some
forty or fifty films annually by 1944, almost all
of them thrillers, comedies, or sentimental
dramas, often with a strongly nationalistic streak
and subjected to strict, politically based
censorship. Almost the only film of lasting
quality to emerge from this period was Emberek a
havason (People on the Alps, 1942), directed by
István Szöts (1912–1998), with its magnificently
photographed mountain scenery and a strong social
theme based on the contrast between city and
country values. The film was attacked by both left
and right, and Szöts was unable to make another
film until 1947, when his almost equally
impressive Ének ázamezökröl ( Song of the
Cornfield ) was promptly banned by the Communist-
controlled government. Szöts finally left Hungary
for Austria in 1957.
The religious theme did not need to be a real problem for the Communists, then we did not see any representatives for any Church do any good.
In an Hollywood script we would probably have had a Catholic Priest also struggling with his conscience, being in the middle between the Repressive State (this is Hungary and not Romania, at least I could not find any references to any Romanian thing whatsoever). We even see a patrol of the now so popular Hungarian Gendarme hunting down the fleeing main character.
The State of course supports the LandOwner’s right to sell the land to the big bad Timber Company, which immediately evicts all free Wood-Cutters, who are basically squatting on the land.
Several times this ‘injustice’ comes up – ‘We who live here have no rights’, the squatting and owning nothing farming class, the proletariat of the forest.
The religious motive, in a proper setting, can easily be explained by – ‘This is the way our hard-working parents and grand-parents lived. Today in the Socialist Hungary, this is no longer the case. Here we protect the land-less proletariat against the bad Capitalist’ (free interpretation).
I do not see any National theme in this film, it reminds me more about other films about the same time, made in Sweden and even some made in the US. MGM had a social pathos and were clever to make money on that. John Steinbeck’s “The Grapes of Wrath” is probably the most known case, but the ending of the film differs from the book, too much Communism.
Rudolf,
As I understand this specific film (People on the Alps, 1941) was never banned, but his next one was, as you write.
I have not seen the latter one, any links out there?
Ének a búzamezökröl (1947)
… aka Ének a búzamezőkről (Hungary)
… aka Song of the Corn Field (informal literal
English title)
István Szöts
His first film, the Men Of the Mountains (usually
known in English as Men of the Alps), won the
artistic main prize of the 1942 Venice Film
Festival. Italian critics celebrated it as the
actualisation of ‘neorealism’ being born. People
Of The Alps, however, had a mixed reception in
Hungary: the right wing praised it as a “national
character” film, while the left wing accused it of
“false folkiness”. In 1945 Szõts published a
Pamphlet on Hungarian Film-Culture, which touched
on theoretical and practical topics from state
subsidies to director-training, the education of
the audience and the publication of books about
film to the creation of a film-style continuing
the best cultural traditions that the world would
acknowledge.
His second – and in fact his last – feature
film was the 1947 Song of the Cornfields, which
Communist Party leaders classed as clericalist and
banned. In the subsequent decade Szõts’s film
plans were destined to be one after the other in
vain. In the 1950s on behalf of the Folk Art
Museum, he directed a number of documentaries
about Hungarian rural folk-customs.
cont
In the 1956 revolution he took part in the new
leadership at the film-factory. In 1957 he planned
a historical film in Hungarian-Romanian co-
production, the theme being rejected however for
political reasons. With one short film he took
part in the 1957 Venice Film Festival, from where
he did not return to Hungary. In the following
decades he lived and worked in Austria, making
films about Austrian painters of the turn-of-the-
century Secessionist period.
His far-reaching film-plan, a comprehensive
overview of the poor of the world, Hunger, was
never made. The authors discuss Szõts’s unrealised
cinematic projects, among these the historical
themes which are such a little-known side of the
director’s work.
Szõts should not be only seen as the poet of
his mountainous Transylvanian birthplace, but he
also strove to grasp the characteristics of the
most distinctive Hungarian regions, the universal
in specific folk-customs, wanting to show the
historical drama, the eternal manifestations of
the mind of the people following ancient
tradition.
Turn off your TV set, and mobile phone, and IP Player, and “tune in” to this fantastic site.
For reasoned debate, cultural pursuits, and up-to-the-minute-news and reviews switch on, blog or bookmark,POLITICS.HU.
Hello Rudolf,
I appreciate very much your background information!
The example of István Szöts, keeps showing us something that other of our film artists share: that their lives and work were affected by the regime changes and political storms around them. To discuss Hungarian film on a political website is not at all inappropriate! More often than not, the political authorities distrusted artists and artistic freedom, and sought to censor and control them.
If it wasn’t the politics, then it was the smallness of our national market and the often acute shortage of capital that hindered filmmakers. In spite of that, they often did a lot with a little.
While researching early Hungarian film, I came across a number of good pages and sources that I would like to share.
The following:
http://everything2.com/title/The+History+of+Film+in+Hungary
has some interesting historical information. It is mentioned there that Horthy prohibited filmakers from filming horses from behind trotting and kicking up dust, as that would reflect unfavorably on the state of Hungarian roads!
Also of interest is the fact that between 1919 and 1929, only 4 or 5 films were made in Hungary.
Horthy was reportedly no fan of film. He was old-fashioned, neo feudal and suspicious of the modern world. Nothing seemed to carry the spirit of modernity like the movie phenomenon. It caught the fancy of ordinary people everywhere in the world. While providing diversion, it also increased yearnings. Allowing average citizens to watch movies, especially from Hollywood, where ordinary people where shown owning cars and homes, only served to increase expectations in people as well, expectations that Horthy’s feudal, agrarian economic vision couldn’t fulfill.
Here is a worthwhile article from the Hungarian Quarterly by Graham Petrie
“Hungarian Silent Cinema Rediscovered”
http://www.hungarianquarterly.com/no147/p152.shtml
Highlights:
“Graham Petrie is a British film critic and novelist living in Canada and teaching film at McMaster University, Hamilton, Ontario. His book on Hungarian film, History Must Answer to Man, Corvina Books, appeared in 1979.”
“A total of 460 films were made in Hungary during the silent period; only 33–some in fragmentary form of only a few minutes in length–are known to survive today.”
“A major venue for the screening of these restorations is the Pordenone Silent Film Festival, held each October in a small town in north-east Italy, and attended by film lovers, critics, historians, and archivists from all over the world–as well as by a healthy segment of the local population. This year one of the Festival’s themes was “Magyar Dynamism”, which involved the screening of six newly restored features (two by Deésy, three by Balogh and one by Korda), together with a short film by Kertész, fragments of some other films, and some newsreels of the period. Small as this sampling is, it helps to illuminate the overall development of the early, and very lively, Hungarian cinema and to provide some interesting com parisons with the current situation, where once again Hungarian filmmakers find themselves forced to compete in a world market…”
Deésy Alfréd némafilmjei (részletek)
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=OMtjnIupPQI
A 2 minute segment taken from DUNA TV, in Hungarian. Posted on youtube by a person with the username “HungarianArchiveFilm”, who has posted much interesting classic Hungarian film footage.
We should also be aware of the efforts of the Hungarian National Film Archive and Film Institute. They also deserve our contributions and financial support, as film restoration is labor intensive and expensive. They are busy finding and restoring our classic film legacy, and list their releases on their website:
Magyar Nemzeti Film Archívum
http://www.filmintezet.hu/
In Hungarian. Can be translated by Google. Insert the link in the google search and hit “Translate the page”.
What in interesting observation that just occurred
here!! The film Emberek a Havason by István Szöts
, how a wolf like Viking straight away begins to
project a different view of this film, when all
along the movie was supported by patriotic right
wing people in Hungary, this is a classic example
of how Neo Liberal liars twist the facts to try
to promote their version of a false truth.
Also Rudolph was clever by firstly presenting a
mainstream version from a biased source which
highlights how reviews are written to create false
perceptions and as you begin to research István
Szöts biography the factual version appears of
his love and true patriotism as a Hungarian which
he tried to present to the world. Oh my what an
amazing observation.
@ Everyone
We received a Merry Christmas / Happy New Year email that I liked so much I wanted to post it but did not have the time before today.
It will take 2 postings but I hope you enjoy it as much as I did.
Happy New Year and all the best for 2010:
__________________________________________________We wanted to send some sort of holiday greeting to our friends and colleagues, but it is so difficult in today’s world to know exactly what to say without offending someone. So we met with our attorney yesterday, and on their advice we wish to say the following:
Please accept with no obligation, implied or implicit, our best wishes for an environmentally conscious, socially responsible, low stress, non-addictive, gender neutral celebration of the winter solstice holiday, practiced with the most enjoyable traditions of religious persuasion or secular practices of your choice with respect for the religious/secular persuasions and/or traditions of others, or their choice not to practice religious or secular traditions at all.
We also wish you a fiscally successful, personally fulfilling and medically uncomplicated recognition of the onset of the generally accepted Gregorian calendar year 2010, but not without due respect for the calendars of choice of other cultures whose contributions to society have helped make our country great and without regard to the race, creed, colour, age, physical ability, religious faith or sexual preference of the wishee (cont)
@ Everyone (cont…)
By accepting this greeting, you are accepting these terms:
• This greeting is subject to clarification or withdrawal.
• It is freely transferable with no alteration to the original greeting.
• It implies no promise by the wisher to actually implement any of the wishes for her/himself or others and is void where prohibited by law, and is revocable at the sole discretion of the wisher.
• This wish is warranted to perform as expected within the usual application of good tidings for a period of one year or until the issuance of a subsequent holiday greeting, whichever comes first, and warranty is limited to replacement of this wish or issuance of a new wish at the sole discretion of the wisher.
No trees were harmed in the sending of this message.
Merry Christmas and Happy New Year !
all along the movie was supported by patriotic right wing people in Hungary
Law at December 27, 2009 10:40 AM
—-
And that is why the film was not banned in Communist Hungary?
Looking at where Rudolf was copying:
-
http://www.filmreference.com/encyclopedia/Criticism-Ideology/Hungary-STAGNATION-AND-CENSORSHIP-1930-1963.html
-
The beginning of the article is not there:
In contrast to this trend are two fine films by Paul Fejos, who returned to Hungary after some years in Hollywood to make Tavaszi zápor (Spring Shower, also known as Marie, a Hungarian Legend) and ÍtélaBalaton (The Judgment of Lake Balaton, both in 1932.
Official disapproval of the films’ explicit social criticism, however, drove Fejos to leave Hungary once more, this time for good.
—
Mr Farkas point out Admiral Horthy messing around with the ‘Artistic Freedom’ in exactly the same way we know the Communists like to though (film is suppose to show the Hungarian State in a positive light, all propaganda).
From Rudolf’s source we can also see that films with a social pathos had a problem and was banned and the maker had to leave the country. Exactly as during the Communists reign later. The difference is that Law/Jobbik loves Horthy with all his censorship.
—
As someone clever said:
An artistic performance that keep on generating different opinions during decades are truly an artistic performance of high value.
Obviously this film was not in to Slogans and Propaganda.
@Olga:
Thanks a lot – and I hope you and your family had a a nice holiday (whatever you called it) and also got a lot of presents (which you liked and/or could use) …
PS: The same goes for everyone here that wants to read and enjoy this greeting…
Hello all,
I hope you have had a nice Christmas! I’m glad to see we are kicking on this thread! I’m proud of this community; together we have come up with a lot of film history that gives this particular thread lasting value!
I wanted to furnish some more resources on Szőts. Around here we can’t have more than one hyperlink per post, so I’ll have to break it up. Bear with me!
István Szöts
From imdb.com (Internet Movie Database)
http://www.imdb.com/name/nm0844499/
(Imdb is a vast collection bucket of info on every imaginable film, actor, director etc. It’s considered quite a good reference source.)
MovieMartry.com, Review by Jeremy Heilman
http://www.moviemartyr.com/blog/?tag=istvan-szots
Article by Eszter Fazekas and Judit Pintér:
http://emc.elte.hu/~metropolis/english/9802/fazeng.html
The women do mention that Szöts got in trouble with the communist govt, when they accused him of “clericalism” in his films. Anybody that remembers that regime would know that all the piety and religious feeling that Szöts displayed in his earlier work would not be accepted and could get a person in a lot of trouble. Going to church and getting married in church were alone big black marks against a person. This of course was especially true under Rákosi and for quite a while after.
Hungarian cinema:
STAGNATION AND CENSORSHIP: 1930–1963
http://www.filmreference.com/encyclopedia/Criticism-Ideology/Hungary-STAGNATION-AND-CENSORSHIP-1930-1963.html
From the Hungarian Quarterly, article by Erzsébet Bori:
The Hungarian Documentary
http://www.hungarianquarterly.com/no169/11.shtml
From wikpedia, a partial list:
List of Hungarian films 1901–1947
http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/List_of_Hungarian_films_1901-1947
This is an awesome reference source! I think it is incomplete, but it’s a hell of a start towards organizing and taking inventory of our historic film legacy.
I found a copy of Szőts’s 1945 work: “Pamphlet on Hungarian Film Culture”, (in Hungarian):
SZŐTS ISTVÁN
“RÖPIRAT A MAGYAR FILMMŰVÉSZET ÜGYÉBEN”(1945)
http://www.filmkultura.hu/regi/articles/essays/ropirat.hu.html
A most valuable work and insight into the man’s thinking.
Dear Farkas Laszlo
Thanks for the effort you are making to research SZŐTS ISTVÁN, amazing what impact someone can make to open peoples hearts to see life from a faithful angle. This is the first time I have heard of ‘neorealism’ and it’s quite an interesting Philosophy, have you any knowledge about this? it appears to have some Indian influence.
I am indebted to Viking for mentioning Paul Fejős. I did some preliminary research on him, and what I found out makes me want to dedicate another “Hungarians In Hollywood”segment to his memory! His birthday is January 24. There is more than enough youtube support material to make it make it an interesting, wonderful and lively commemoration! Some of his projects are personal favorites of mine and were landmark films.
My projected upcoming “production schedule” for the “HIH” series for the month of January:
Adolph Zukor- January 7 Founder of Paramount studios/ Film mogul
Vilma Bánky- January 9 Film actress
Paul Fejős – January 24 Director/Writer/Designer/Producer
Here is a taste of the upcoming Fejős celebration. “Broadway”(1929) was a short showing the glittering song, dance and nightlife of New York city and Times square. Much of the film was shot outdoors at night, showing the lighting displays. New York in those days was the symbol of the “Jazz Age” and modernity. Note the Art Deco style interiors. This film is a treasure! Int3eresting that the only soundtracked version discovered was a print with Hungarian titles!
Broadway – First clip (1929)
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=s0ug_OdNC0Y
There is a second clip posted by the person.
Dear Law!
I hope you had a nice Christmas? Nice for you to ask about the subject. When I saw “Emberek A Havason” and read some of the critical commentary, the word “neorealism” came up.
Neorealism in the arts, especially in cinema, refers to having your images, acting and themes drawn from, and inspired by real life. For movies, that has come to mean among other things:
1)Location shooting, rather than indoor fantasy lighting and sets.
2)Drawing from real life events and contemporary context.
3)pointing the need for social change.
4)Moving away from a “star system” and often using non-professional actors.
5)a gritty, documnetary-like shooting style.
“Emberek A Havason” meets the above criteria. It is a Hungarian example of a style that became world famous after WW2 in Italy, with the films of Vittorio De Sica (The Bicycle Thieves-1948, Umberto D- 1952 and La Strada 1954 by Frederico Fellini.)
The style couldn’t have the warm approval of either a fascist right or a Stalinist left, as both sought to quash popular discontent and public pessimism. It flourished in Italy after the war because there was no dictatorship to oppose a style finding truth in everyday ugliness. After the war, the communists would allow Italian examples of the style to show how gritty life was in the capitalist west. In Hungary and elsewhere in the Soviet empire, the mandatory style became “Socialist Realism”, based on forced optmism and denial.
Farkas Lásló. I had been working on some difficult projects and I needed a little light relief.
To my good fortune in the last few days along came two films on the TV.
Chaplin starring as Hitler in The Great Dictator
and The Producers featuring that great song: Springtime for Hitler and Germany!
For some reason when I was quite young I did not appreciate Chaplin, nor did I enjoy his “silent” films.
Many people urged me to watch The Great Dictator
and I flatly refused. (What a mistake!!)
An hilarious film in which Chaplin’s comic genius shines throughout the movie.
I am feeling a lot better for watching both films.
Hello Szrencse!
How nice to hear from you; I believe you are new around here?
Chaplin was a very deep, complex man. In fact he was a genius in more ways than one.
He started in a life of poverty in Great Britain, a nobody- and he knew it. He never ever forgot it, ever. All the money and millions that America could throw at him, could never make him forget where he came from.
He arrived in America with nothing. When he made his mark in movies, it was playing a homeless, drifting tramp. He never stopped feeling that way in real life. He felt that the rich man of today could be tomorrow’s bum!
I think your initial idea of Chaplin was formed by the old Essanay shorts. That was when movies were still in a primitive stage of development. The whole world loved his antics, such as they were. By 1916, he was worth 20 million dollars!! That made him one of the very wealthiest people in the world.
He became so very successful, that he teamed up with Mary Pickford and Douglas Fairbanks and started an independent studio/distributor called United Artists, which still exists today. The idea was that the most successful stars should just “fire the studios”, finance their own film productions and keep all the profits. It was a great idea, provided you had real box office draw and you made a film that made money. Otherwise, you were dead! Gloria Swanson joined UA, and found this out the real hard way. It was an expensive education for her!
(cont)
Becoming an independent producer, and having unlimited personal wealth, changed Chaplin as a film personality. He could now indulge in his own artistic and intellectual expression, without anyone to tell him to do this or that, to cut this out, or that he can’t do this or that, or that he was “over budget” or that he had a deadline.
Like Hitler, he took direction from nobody. Like the Fuehrer that he parodied, whatever he commanded to be done was done, whatever the cost. Where a studio would crank out a film in a few months, he would take years. He didn’t care. The studios borrowed from New York bankers. Chaplin financed himself. He didn’t take calls from bankers.
A man with this much freedom and resources will either make great art of make a fool of himself.
All of Chaplins self produced films, from 1925 on, starting with the “Gold Rush”, are critically acclaimed classics. He produced. He directed. He starred. He wrote. He composed the music. His flicks became a one man puppet show!
He was very socially conscious and political. He was quite left of center (especially for a millionaire!), and became even more so over time. He ended up becoming that strange creature known as a multi-millionaire communist!
Charlie didn’t like what he saw in Hitler and his politics, and by 1940 felt the need to use his name and resources to warn the world about him.
(cont)
One of Chaplin’s idiosynchrosies was his resistance to sound film. From 1930-1940, he produced only 3 films. “City Lights”(1931), was a silent; 4 years after the rest of Hollywood had gone “talkie”. “Modern Times”(1936), was almost all silent, except for a few minutes of spoken words. But when he decided to parody Hitler in 1940, he made up for all the years of not speaking! The world got to hear Chaplin! Like Hitler, he uses the podium to harangue his audience. It took fascism for the silent tramp to finally open his mouth before the world.
The Great Dictator is a funny, and vicous spoof. It didn’t do all that well at the box office, because people at the time were disturbed, rather than amused by Hitler. Nobody wanted another war, and taking Hitler seriously would have meant arming for conflict.
Hitler prided himself on being honest about his long term goals in both his writings and speeches. He told the world what he was going to do, years before he did it. He figured that people wouldn’t believe such candor, and there he was largely right. In Paris, London and other places, well placed people kept asking: “But what does he really mean?”. People who are worldly and two faced never understand fanatics!
Chaplin felt he understood, and all to well.
(cont)
Unfortunately, people have often posted the “Great Dictator” on youtube, only to have it yanked by the copyright owner. I can’t post a complete link to the film, but it’s there in parts. I will put up a few scenes; enjoy them while they last!
Chaplin plays “Adenoid Hynkel”, as well as a Jewish barber who resembles Hynkel. Adenoid is a reference to the vocal chords and Hynkel’s speechmaking. His fascist symbol is “XX”, which in english slang meant the “double cross”, i.e to cheat somebody. (A nagy csalás)
Best scenes from “The Great Dictator”
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=yypR80BLEo4
Hungarian Dance No. 5 from “The Great Dictator” ( Charlie Chaplin )
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=monaXOpmH1U&feature=related
The Great Dictator- Globe Scene
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=IJOuoyoMhj8&feature=related
Ironically with Wagner music in the background.
The Great Dictator – speech
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=5IvPIWzQcUY&feature=related
This occurs at the end of the film. The barber is trying to flee the country to go to “Austerlich”. He is found by the storm troopers, who think he is Hynkel. He is forced to go up to the podium and give his pep talk prior to the planned takover of “Austerlich”. Insted of the Hynkel message, he give the talk in this clip.
THE GREAT DICTATOR – Napaloni
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=UN6QHlCs7Gs&feature=related
In this clip, the character “Napaloni” parodies Mussolini. The one-upmanship ridiculed in this film is inspired from real life. Mussolini liked to march with his men at the head of a parade. He would then start to walk faster and faster, forcing his cohorts to do the same. Finally he would break into a run, and all of his followers had to run as well! When Mussolini visited Hitler in 1936, he was met at the train station by Hitler. In front of many newsreel cameramen, with Hitler walking alongside his Italian pal, the Duce repeated this macho stunt! He began to walk faster and ever faster, forcing Adolf to keep up with him. Hitler was a bit shorter and had a hard time keeping up with the Duce. His struggle was recorded on film and became a worldwide joke.
Since the subject of Chaplin has come up, let me post a couple of his great film classics that are on youtube in their entirety:
Charlie Chaplin – City Lights (1931) 1 of 9
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=hvwKsxhz23M&feature=PlayList&p=925DD68F7610FE9B&playnext=1&playnext_from=PL&index=37
Charlie Chaplin – Modern Times (1936) part 1/9
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=a0XjRivGfiw
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Etc…
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