58 / BD 91 Zoltán Huszárik: Szindbád & Csontváry + Short Films

[knives]

Thanks.

[John Edmond]

Ditto. *goes back to wondering what percentage of the day MichaelB spends looking for newly uploaded Eastern European shorts on youtube*

[John Edmond]

Having just watched Capriccio can I just double down on my thanks? Manages to be cute in a manner that strengthens the film's sense of being primal. And an object lesson in how to animate the inanimate - I loved the use of musical instruments, plastic bags and lighting.


edit: oooh, notices Huszárik's last short A Piacere is also up on youtube.

[knives]

It is fairly amazing how through only some cuts he manages to produce a complex relationship (at least for me) of elation and sadness. More of his work really should be available.

[John Edmond]

It's not just you.

And yes, presuming Second Run can't dump a couple of his key shorts on their future release of Csontváry (I know, wishful thinking), I would buy a compilation of Huszarik's shorts in a heartbeat.

[MichaelB]

Ditto. *goes back to wondering what percentage of the day MichaelB spends looking for newly uploaded Eastern European shorts on youtube*

I do very occasional checks for Huszárik's work, and yesterday's five-second search struck lucky.

[John Edmond]

And I highly appreciate those five seconds.

If it helps I spent another five seconds forwarding it on to friends with children. I have received dubious responses; I am heartened.

[MichaelB]

And yes, presuming Second Run can't dump a couple of his key shorts on their future release of Csontváry (I know, wishful thinking), I would buy a compilation of Huszarik's shorts in a heartbeat.

I'm hoping, since the Hungarians have finally got round to releasing their archival restorations on DVD, that they'll be doing their own version of Szindbád based on the same transfer but with Huszárik shorts in support - which is far from wishful thinking, since a lot of the discs not only feature supporting shorts, but quite a few of them came from the Béla Balázs Studió, which produced Elégia and Capriccio.

In most cases, the extras on these DVDs don't have subtitles - but, handily, this doesn't matter with most of Huszárik's output. Of the ones I've seen (virtually all of them bar Amerigo Tot), only Grotesque has any significant spoken content at all, and even that's pretty easy to follow.

[Jean-Luc Garbo]

The Adventures of Sindbad, translated by George Szirtes.

[John Edmond]

Just picked that edition up. Even thought I've only spotted one anecdote from the film thus far (Monkey and Szindbad's failure to not be tempted by the tempting prostitutes) it's been a remarkable read. Not hard to see the how trompe l'oeil imagery of the film acts as an equivalent to the extended metaphors and misleading descriptions that Krudy uses as segues throughout his writing.

Spoiler

And since Szindbad has already popped up as a dead 300 year old, a young earnest 100 year old, and a sprig of mistletoe (which regrets not reincarnating as a comb for fear of being used in a dirty woman's hair) it has significantly recast my understanding of the film's framing as being that of Szindbad's dying thoughts).

[MichaelB]

The Hackney Picturehouse is showing Szindbád plus the vast majority of Huszárik's shorts (Game, Grotesque, Elegia, Capriccio, A Piacere) on Wednesday January 4th, complete with an intro from yours truly.

Cinema website here - and tickets are a mere three quid (plus discount rates).

[MichaelB]

Beaver (finally!)

[Calvin]

Reading the Hungarian Film Archive's 2019 annual report, and it says that "in 2019, 33 feature films and 25 short films were fully restored, including those of Zoltán Huszárik". Needless to say, an upgrade from Second Run would be phenomenal!

[What A Disgrace]

BLU-RAY 3-DISC LIMITED EDITION BOX-SET CONTENTS
• Szindbád and Csontváry presented from new 4K restorations by the National Film Institute Hungary - Film Archive.
• Elégia, Capriccio, Homage to Old Women and A Piacere short films presented from 4K scans by the National Film Institute Hungary - Film Archive.
• Groteszk presented from an HD transfer by the National Film Institute Hungary - Film Archive.
• Szindbád: An appreciation: Filmmaker Peter Strickland on Huszárik's sumptuous vision.
• Who is Zoltán Huszárik?: Exploring the life and legacy of the great artist.
• The World of Krúdy and Huszárik: On the collaboration between writer Gyula Krúdy and the filmmaker.
• Inside the Popular Science Film Studio: Archival newsreel on the special photographic techniques employed in Szindbád.
• Making ‘Csontváry’: Archival behind-the-scenes newsreel footage, including a rare on-set interview with Huszárik.
• Booklets with writing on the films by producer and Hungarian cinema specialist Michael Brooke.
• New and improved English subtitles.
• World and UK premieres on Blu-ray.
• Region-free Blu-rays (A/B/C).

July 28

[knives]

Any specific reason why Játék and Amerigo Tot couldn’t be included?

[MichaelB]

It wouldn't surprise me if there were rights issues with Amerigo Tot, what with the subject's work still being in copyright (in fact, he outlived Huszárik by a few years). I suspect this was less of an issue at the time of production, what with it being a Hungarian film about a Hungarian sculptor made in the Communist era, but it very much would be now, and I doubt they'd have factored in foreign home video releases at the time of production.

And Játek is a film-school exercise - quite a fun one, but it's no great loss; it's certainly not a patch on Huszárik's major shorts.

Incidentally, I've significantly expanded my contribution from a 6,000-word essay in the original DVD release of Szindbád to a 9,500-word one that's been split across Szindbád and Csontváry, mainly because I only devoted a paragraph to the latter originally (I hadn't seen it back then), and it obviously needed rather more coverage this time round.

[Bikey]

SPECIAL OFFER: Pre-order price at our webstore now £34.99 - valid until release date 28 July 2025

[Bikey]

Full details now up at our website

[Bikey]

First review in from London Grip

[Bikey]

Less than 24-hours to grab our ZOLTÁN HUSZÁRIK 3-disc Blu-ray Box Set at the Special Discount Price of £34.99 when ordered through our website.
Offer ends midnight!

[Bikey]

"Life, death and one incredible box set"
The Geek Show review

[MichaelB]

Mondo Digital.

[Bikey]

Set currently £29.99 GBP at Amazon UK!!

[brundlefly]

And basically the same price, without international shipping, at Amazon US.

[Bikey]

"An intoxicating collection of surreal poetry and baroque cinema [...]
Second Run’s box set is, without exaggeration, one of the most important home video releases of the year. Essential, transformative, and long overdue."
Cinemas Online