Hadik

For this austere, clear and sharp telefeature, Judit Elek focused on the last months of Martinovics’ life: his interrogation by the Austrians, the examining Magistrate Schilling in particular, shown as a battle of wits as well as delusions on both sides. Elek had wanted to make this film in the early 1970s, but wasn’t allowed to. When she finally got the chance, the reactions were predictable, as the parallels with recent Hungarian history were simply too obvious for officialdom not to feel anxious. History may not repeat itself, but the variations look eerily similar.

At the station of Almamellék the semaphore turns red unexpectedly and the conductor shows a stowaway - with no money nor ticket - off the train. The stowaway has to undergo a serious and long investigation that tries to uncover the reasons for his "deed". In the meantime he can watch, like a spectator in a movie-theatre, how Kerek József, the strutting stationmaster rules his ridiculous empire through office bureaucracy, indifference, servility and negligence.

Anyegin arrives home in an abandoned castle for his uncle's funeral. He is a misanthropic, tired, cynical man who has seen it all, tried it all and is tired of what others - including his young neighbour, Lensky - consider the meaning of his life. At Lensky's invitation, he visits the Larin's estate, where he meets Tatiana, a young girl under the spell of books and a fan. Tatiana falls in love with Anegin and confesses her feelings in a letter...

The story takes place at the time of the defeat of the Hungarian War of Independence, when Csákberény came under the terror of the imperial soldiers. Two priests from the village are arrested overnight for reading the Hungarian Declaration of Independence. Although the Austrian soldiers enjoy their power, they are unable to identify with the repression. The purpose of the trial of a military imprisonment court is to obtain a confession, to prove that a violation of sovereignty has been committed.