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...is pretty much exactly what you'd expect from a reunion between producer Andrew Vanja (Rambo, Die Hard 3) and Joe Eszterhas (Basic Instinct, Showgirls), the only twist being that it's set in their native country and language.

Shamelessly devoid of even the merest hint of subtlety, it's a fictional riff on a real-life Hungary-Soviet waterpolo match in the wake of the short-lived 1956 Hungarian revolution. The latter scenes are by far the film's high point, with veteran stunt coordinator Vic Armstrong gleefully laying waste to the meticulous period reconstruction at every opportunity - this must hold some kind of record for onscreen explosions.

Unfortunately, the other record the film's aiming for has to do with cramming the greatest number of inane romantic/war/sports-movie clichés into a two-hour package. I was a good 15-20 minutes ahead of just about every plot development ("A firebrand student activist announces that she's pregnant and after the revolution she wants to live a quiet family life? She'll be dead by the next scene!"), and while it's intermittently amusing hearing Eszterhas's unmistakable approach to dialogue delivered in Hungarian (during the climactic waterpolo match: "If he pulls my trunks I'll make him choke on what's in them!"), a little of this goes a very long way.

Still, it's enjoyable enough, and I can easily see why it was a domestic smash - it was made specifically to be released on the 50th anniversary of the revolution. But it's ultimately hard to disagree with Variety's verdict that "Boffo local biz out of the gate in October to commemorate the 50th anni of the uprising is a feat unlikely to be replicated in other territories, though pic is a rousing entree for those who take their history with a lot of pyrotechnics and a little sex."

I'll probably stick with Black Book, but I can see that idea giving the opportunity for a lot of scantily clad women jumping around to catch the ball.

Does it end with the good guys having to play the match of their lives with a ball packed full of explosives?

I was a school teacher in the Hungarian countryside when this came out. This was one of the films that they took all the students to the local recreation/cinema to watch the day before it was released in the general public. There were of course no subtitles and my Hungarian is fairly weak but it was pretty easy to follow nonetheless.

It should be kept in mind that though it is thoroughly cliche it is intentionally sticking with the well-tested tropes of the genre in order to stand as an easy to swallow contribution to the Hungarian's undying obsession with their amazing history of defeats and setbacks. [breathe] Carefully laminated for easy use every anniversary of the revolution--hello television! The typical Hungarian has grown up watching Hollywood films, like everyone else bitches about how vapid they are but is at the same time embarrassed by local product (I've never met a Hungarian who has even heard of Bela Tarr, and to suggest watching a pre-90's Jancso film would be seen as some kind of legacy Soviet torture). This was an opportunity to see their history given the Hollywood gloss.

It should also be noted that the director's only other significant cinematic contribution prior to this was a romantic comedy (very good as far as romantic comedies go btw) with the same actress--Vajna's ex--the middling Dobo Kata[strophe], an actress well past her very short shelf life, made famous by exposing herself in her screen debut, and now holding onto the spotlight by playing up her sad foray in Hollywood: 3 seconds in American Rhapsody and a small roll in a Steven Siegal (sic?) film.

Anyway, the film is worth a viewing. Very interesting time in history and does capture at least some of the complexities inherent to the conflict that often get glossed over (The Russkies, the Hungarian communists...and 'us'). All in all Goda's Csak szex és más semmi is probably more worthwhile. Plus it stars the lovely Schell Judit, following her role in Fateless and a couple of the Kapa/Pepe Miklos Jancso films.

colinr0380 wrote:I'll probably stick with Black Book, but I can see that idea giving the opportunity for a lot of scantily clad women jumping around to catch the ball.

Sadly, you'll be disappointed - the only scantily-clad individuals are decidedly male. (The women, by contrast, are gun-toting revolutionaries)

Does it end with the good guys having to play the match of their lives with a ball packed full of explosives?

No.

skuhn8 wrote:There were of course no subtitles and my Hungarian is fairly weak but it was pretty easy to follow nonetheless.

I think even I might have found it relatively easy going without subtitles!

(Credit where it's due: the subtitles on the print I saw - the UK and presumably the US release version, with English titles - were admirably thorough, even including parenthetical highlights to add context to material that might otherwise pass non-Hungarians by - for instance, a brief footnote explaining who Imre Nagy was, and identifying the Hungarian national anthem when it's sung. I really appreciate it when subtitlers go the extra mile, because most non-Hungarians wouldn't recognise the national anthem - and yet its appearance on more than one occasion is dramatically and emotionally significant.)

It should be kept in mind that though it is thoroughly cliche it is intentionally sticking with the well-tested tropes of the genre in order to stand as an easy to swallow contribution to the Hungarian's undying obsession with their amazing history of defeats and setbacks.

Oh yes, absolutely - when I said I could easily see why it was such a huge domestic hit, that wasn't meant pejoratively at all. It clearly filled an emotional need, and berating it for lack of depth seems somewhat beside the point. On the other hand, I agree with Variety that it'll probably struggle internationally, for all the heroic efforts of the subtitles to draw non-Hungarians into the material.

Carefully laminated for easy use every anniversary of the revolution--hello television! The typical Hungarian has grown up watching Hollywood films, like everyone else bitches about how vapid they are but is at the same time embarrassed by local product (I've never met a Hungarian who has even heard of Bela Tarr, and to suggest watching a pre-90's Jancso film would be seen as some kind of legacy Soviet torture). This was an opportunity to see their history given the Hollywood gloss.

...and I'd say that's its main point of interest. In fact, it isn't so much a glossy Hollywood film as very specifically an Andrew Vajna/Joe Eszterhas one (I don't think the politique des auteurs really applies too heavily in this instance - the press notes make it pretty clear that Vajna and Vic Armstrong were firmly in charge during the large-scale action scenes).

It should also be noted that the director's only other significant cinematic contribution prior to this was a romantic comedy (very good as far as romantic comedies go btw) with the same actress--Vajna's ex--the middling Dobo Kata[strophe], an actress well past her very short shelf life, made famous by exposing herself in her screen debut, and now holding onto the spotlight by playing up her sad foray in Hollywood: 3 seconds in American Rhapsody and a small roll in a Steven Siegal (sic?) film.

Yes, the press notes made much of that (though without mentioning the brevity). For me, she was comfortably the weakest character, but I think the script was at least as much to blame: she never amounted to much more than a cipher. Which is a shame, as she's clearly intended to carry a lot of emotional weight.

Anyway, the film is worth a viewing. Very interesting time in history and does capture at least some of the complexities inherent to the conflict that often get glossed over (The Russkies, the Hungarian communists...and 'us').

It's certainly worth seeing, and I'm very glad that the Hungarians (and Poles with Katyn and Russians with 9th Company) are starting to produce big-budget recreations of events that for various reasons would have been impossible to dramatise honestly until very recently (they simply didn't have the money in the 1990s, and couldn't have done it before then). In fact, one of the few genuinely affecting scenes in the film is the one when they realise the Americans aren't coming to rescue them because all eyes are on Suez - Hungary had become yesterday's news as far as the outside world was concerned.

Maybe not the right thread to bring it up...but then perhaps it is. The Journey with Jason Robards and Yul Brynner is a surprisingly astute approach to the cataclism of '56.

MichaelB, I took your assessment of the film in the proper context. I think it is worth watching for even international audiences but with a grain of salt as it is very cliche, very glossy, and very predictable. Vajna learned a lot in Hollywood and brings it right up front. But I think--insofar as I believe I understand his purpose--he succeeds in his aims. As with any historical event there are the 'highlights' that you want to get right. And with a film like this I would be embarrassed to send it abroad without proper historical context (i.e. relevant extras). They should have bundled this with the excellent documentary Freedom's Fury, and I don't know why they didn't. This was also a Vajna production (along with Q. Tarrantino and Lucy Liu) that goes into the water polo match and the struggle in the background. Excellent documentary footage of not just the street fighting but the student's march that inspired the revolution. And this goes back to the highlights that should be understood. Student groups from many of the major universities converged on Budapest to state their points for change. It should be kept in mind that this wasn't a fight for democracy based on change in international climate (as with the Czech uprising--and here I'm certainly not belittling '68) but a response to Stalinist communism. Hungary had gulags still in operatoin. What these--well--kids were doing was ballsy like you wouldn't believe. Anyway, they marched and lo and behold the people responded in kind. Imre Nagy, Prime Minister, rolled with it, the military sent sympathetic signals....hey this is getting pedantic, but some things to keep in mind when watching any film about '56:

• Student/intellectual uprising in speech
  Imre Nagy (seriously, Marta Meszaros' Temetlen Halott covers this beautifully--yes, the footage in the end is the real deal from his exhumation: a European Prime Mininster bound in barbed wire prior to burial)
  Soviet tanks retreat from Budapest--Democracy and withdrawal from Warsaw Pact declared. Freedom achieved!
  Middle of the night Soviets return and crush the uprising.

The Suez sank the Hungarians. (Some of the soviet divisions were actually told upon departure that they were off to fight the imperialist US/UK forces in Egypt as fighting Hungarians would not have been very motivating). It should be noted that according to fairly reliable records--and despite popular perception--the US never indicated they would interfere in Hungary. However, Radio Free Europe did indicate this in numerous broadcasts. Though this was funded by the US evidence suggests that there was a disconnect. This is a point of contention.

Dutifully Szabadsag Szerelem (Freedom Love would be a literal translation) moves through these points dutifully if not entirely creatively, though moving between street fighting and water polo drama is quite clever. MichaelB, did you notice the Corvin Haz (cinema house that is still there today and in front of which the fiercest fighting took place) marquee? Zoltan Fabri's Hannibul Ur.

To see some of the ramification of this struggle an interesting--if not entirely successful followup--would be Mansfeld. The Hungarian psyche was indelibly scarred. This can also be seen in the 'absence' inherent to pre-80's Marta Meszaros films.

Sorry if this is a mess, but typing on the fly while the kids get the magic lantern geared up!