Children of Glory (Szabadság, Szerelem)
Krisztina Goda / Hungary / 2006 / 123 min
Kata Dobó, Iván Fenyo, Sándor Csányi, Károly Gesztesi
What an amazing film! Absolutely brilliant, heartbreaking, historically informative and accurately enlightening! For me it is the best film of this year. The open end also works well, because somehow there is no end to history.
Set during the Olympics in 1956, it narrates the history of the Hungarian uprising like no one has ever done before; with sound, colour, movement and acting like Hollywood, a masterpiece with wonderful continental and emotional depth and clever story-writing. It portrays the situation in the Soviet block, in Budapest and the rather accidental student uprising spreading out and about not only for more personal freedom, but also for the independence of the country from Russia. The demands were not for Capitalism nor free-market economy but to support the strike in Poland, for the Russians to go home,…and so on. And, like it is in these crazy situations, some friends turn out to be secret service informers, some opportunists, and the supposedly most conservative communist becomes one of the most enthusiastic rebels. Death and injury seems purely random as seems help and friendship, lies and truth are swirled through expectations, hope, fear, doubt and uncertainty as Western and Real Existing Hungarian Media also spin with wishful interpretations.
The film has been made and premièred for the 50th anniversary of the Hungarian uprising, commemorating the participants. So far it has been a big hit in Hungary and at international festivals, especially as some emigrants to the US film industry were involved in the making of the film. Its an unmissable film! Go and see it!
rating 5/5