Örök tél

Extraordinary and good if rather chilling film. Beautifully acted and it's one of those films you must stick with to get the real benefit. The last half and hour is compelling.

EN: Eternal Winter tells a strong story from WWII, and the setting feels real. The idea was good, but the plot and acting didn't fully work. It's not Hollywood quality, but it's decent for a Hungarian film. It reminded me of the stories my grandparents told about the Nazi and Soviet invasions in Romania. It also made me think of the Romanians who died in the Soviet gulags, many in Siberia. Only a few ever came back. These memories made the film feel more personal to me. It's a nice film to add to any WWII collection, especially for those who want to learn more about what happened in Eastern Europe.

A fine addition to the War Drama category from Hungary portraying atrocities of World War II this time focusing on forced encamping and ruthless handling of women of Hungary by Gulag forces of Soviet Union in harsh winters for many years. The movie follows Irén (Marina Gera) with other innocent females who are transported two thousand kilometers away from their homes for forced labor.

It was quite shocking to note that the forced labor and persecution of internees including hundreds of thousands of Hungarians remained in force with the agreement and consent of other world powers at that time, which continued even when the war was over.

The acting performances and cinematography are good, but the ending sequence respecting lead roles is not logical, which could have been avoided in such a fine movie.

ETERNAL WINTER (Orok Tel) is the second war related Hungarian movie i watched after GLOOMY SUNDAY (1999). Both gave me tears after watching. Movie shows the true history, in 1944-45 approximately 700,000 Hungarian men & women were taken to forced labour by the orders of Stalin, 300,000 of them never returned home. A MUST WATCH

I watched this at the Raindance Film Festival and it was the most powerful film I watched there. It deserved a shot at an Oscar. Incredible film making and acting, I left in tears having watched a true masterpiece. Watch this film