Directed by:
Péter BacsóCinematography:
János ZsombolyaiCast:
Ferenc Kállai, Lajos Őze, Zoltán Fábri, Béla Both, Georgette Mertzhradt, Róbert Rátonyi, Károly Bicskei, Lili Monori, László Vámos, Ida Versényi, György Bálint (more)Plots(1)
The satire goes back to the years of the Hungarian personality cult. Being on duty, the dam-keeper, Pelikán József, finds a fish poacher who turns out to be his old comrade, Dániel Zoltán, now a minister. By chance and unintentionally, Dániel has the naive Pelikán collared when the officers of the State Security Authority turn up investigating illegal pig slaughters. An ominous black car takes Pelikán from the prison on a crazy round to the fairy park, the swimming pool, the directors' offices of an orange plantation an so on. In the end, it turns out that comrade Virág would help him to perform his main assignment, that is to be the key witness against his friend, Dániel Zoltán, and to prove his guiltiness in a made-up charge. (official distributor synopsis)
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Reviews (1)
One of Hungary's most famous films, a satirical comedy about the ills of socialism that still surprises with its ideas and originality. The narrative is peppered with witty interludes that speed up the plot, and the film not only mocks the nonsensically contrived communist processes and activities by involving the confused and intrinsically uncorrupted figure of a simple dam-keeper, but above all delivers the important message that it pays to keep one's own head, even when a cunning intellectual tries to plant his own ideas in it. Trying to change a person is reprehensible and will backfire on the guilty party, no matter how much of a jerk we try to change. The actors are wonderful and some scenes, such as the celebratory tasting of the first Hungarian orange, are not only brilliantly funny in themselves, but also help to effectively punctuate the overall satirical action. 90%
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