Le Témoin

The saddest and funniest thing, it is actually NOT a satire...

This film can probably be called THE Hungarian cult movie.

It is a very sad comedy, but with a lot of hilariously funny and original ideas. Made in 1969, a time of political liberalization, it was banned before its first screening and could not be shown in Hungary till 1978. Although the plot takes place in the Rákosi era (1949-1956), the darkest years in Hungarian communism, its anarchical criticism of the communist regime also had impact on the time it was made in.

It will be probably fully understood only by people who have some idea of the communist system, but is also watchable for other audiences.

Thanks to my Hungarian colleague, who lent me the DVD, I watched this interesting and excellent movie. And what a movie it was!

From the beginning till the end, this absurd drama entertains, amuses and at the same time, makes one think. The best point of this movie is the central character, who is a simple person, who does not know how to protest, who believes that all the decisions taken by (and the words uttered by) the Comrades in power must be correct, and who therefore obeys their orders unquestioned, and yet tries to be innovative, and thus unwittingly exposes the stupidity and absurdity that lies at the core of their ideology.

I never knew that Hungary makes good movies (maybe because of the more widely known movies and movie makers from Poland and Czech; though I was told that Hungary produces perhaps the best brains in the world, at least, in Mathematics.), but now I know it otherwise.

If you like a good political satire, just watch it.

As being a Hungarian myself, I might have a soft spot for this film, but I find it extremely funny anyway.

However, I feel I should add some background to those who never lived in a totalitarian personality cult. An era where the best was to keep your mouth shut even among your best friends, for you could not be sure who will report on you. In an era where a big black car might have stopped at your house in the middle of the night to take you and never let you go again. In an era where when deciding about executives, it was your loyalty that mattered not your skill or know-how. Where everyone stated the lemon to be an orange, if it was the dictum of the leaders. Where not clapping hard enough when "our leader" Rakosi addressed the crowd was enough for imprisonment.

All the events described in this film might seem absurd - but I have to say they easily could have and did happen during the '50s in the East of Europe.

Although the regime softened a bit, in 1969 making this film was still not the safest thing to. Not surprisingly it wasn't aired for almost a decade. But since then, it became a cult film by any means. Lines like "Well, comrade Pelikan, life is not all beer and skittles.." are known and quoted by everyone. Yes, laughing at them is mortal to any dictatures...

I'm 29, live in Hungary, but only have seen this movie yesterday. I think, something was missing from my overall general knowledge of us.

The change to freedom from the socialist-communist regime was in 1989, 17 years ago (as of 2006), but all these experiences are so alive in today's people. Especially in the middle age (40-60 year old) generation lived through that time and their mind is vividly remembering. Sentences like the "The situation is intensifying!" (A helyzet fokozódik!), "Life is not a whipped-cream cake!" (Az élet nem habostorta.) are very common to hear. I remember my high school teachers using these phrases very often.

There's even a magazine called Magyar Narancs (Hungarian Orange) - I just didn't know why it is called orange until yesterday. I guess Fidesz, one of the current leader political parties (right wing), has it's color orange because they were related to this magazine during their early times.

There are a lot of elements in the film that are not explained, but everybody knows here. The black car arrived to take someone, to call each other Comrade (this was the natural way to address to others), to eat "tarhonya" again and again.

I just can't understand how this movie could be filmed and then released before 1989 and how the producers didn't finish up in a prison.

Another thing I liked how Pelikan lives his life. When it's time for joy, he is happy, when is time to move on, he moves on, he takes life as it comes. Going with the flow in the sense of Buddhists. He knows who he is, what he is capable of and lives true to his own values. And so he is living what life brings in front of him and happy with that.

This is a wonderful movie and is a must to understand daily life in Hungary. So, just rent it and watch it! 10/10