MovieChat Forums > Szegénylegények (1966) Discussion > One of the all time greats and will stil...

One of the all time greats and will still be forgotten


If you love Spaghetti Westerns this Film is for you. If you love creative and dynamic cinematography this Film is certainly for you. If you want to see something which kicks ALL Prison Film's a$$es then this film is for you. If you are expecting a narrative and complex head games to be hand feed to you....watch Bad Boys II. I saw this film in Novemberof 2003 and it is still stuck in my head. The minimalist sets, the engaging and dynamic cinematography just grabbed my imagination. Take the scene where the camera is pratically dancing around various chracters being sent back to their solitary confinement when in mid action the camera decides to go over and see a whole new set of characters engaged in some other activity. The film is reminiscient of all the operatic images of spaghetti westerns and the deep emotions which are told by acting rather than words. Here is another unfortunate example of an underplayed film maker in the world cinema. Of course who can't live with out money....oh that's right Hollywood (that's a whole other discussion board). Great actors, awesome cinematography, and great plot. If only I could make a real film. Just a thought...nothing more.

reply

Well it's coming out on dvd, so I'll be able to figure out what the hell you're talking about. It better not be a crappy spaghetti western but.

reply

No it's not a crappy spaghetti western.

It's a great film which will keep you on suspense for 90 minutes.

The scene is a house on the Great Plain of Hungary, a courtyard building
which serves as a prison of both revolutionaries and common thieves.

The hungarian insurgents have tried to win independence from the Habsburg rule
but the Austrian armies have fought down the rebels to silence their claims
and the remnants of the freedom-fighters are rounded up in this house where
terror, torture and execution could come to anyone by the whim of a whip.

Everyone knew, already in 1966, that the director Miklós Jancsó also alluded
on the post-1956 situation of Hungary in the dramatic build-up of the film.
Prisoners at the mercy of a foreign power.

It's a remarkable film. Watch it. 9/10


.

reply

It's a remarkable film not only for its quality but also for its influence-- not only on Béla Tarr but on a more popular level on Sergio Leone. Whole sequences of THE GOOD, THE BAD, AND THE UGLY and ONCE UPON A TIME IN THE WEST are virtually lifted from this film. And Jancsó's tone here sometimes recalls that of Stanley Kubrick.

Works that deal with political conflict in a multi-dimensional way tend to last. This was true at the time classical Greek tragedies were written and is just as true today. Jancsó, representing events of 1867, was clearly (and, in his time, daringly) alluding to the situation of Hungary after the failed uprising of 1956, but the situations shown in this film could occur all over the globe. This, and of course also the wonderfully precise direction, photography and editing, ensure that this film will NOT be forgotten.

I agree with the previous poster: 9 / 10.

reply

so great and so unknown



When there's no more room in hell, The dead will walk the earth...

reply