Sztálin menyasszonya

At a dusty crossroads in the Soviet Union villagers surrender their possessions - a horse, a samovar, a goat - to the state. The train which takes them away brings to the village a physically and mentally handicapped woman, barely able to speak. She makes herself bracelets of burrs and studies herself in a cracked and cloudy mirror. Befriended by very few, teased and tormented by many she seeks protection at a huge portrait of Stalin. The children taunt her as Stalin's girlfriend. Far from Moscow, minor state functionaries fear scandal from poor Paranya who crosses herself in front of the portrait. The all powerful state which provides every family a cabbage one day, a melon the next, which gives a citizen the job of guarding waste is threatened by a flaxen-haired, childlike woman whose only clothing is a burlap sack. The English subtitles are sparse and rudimentary with some errors.

I've been on a Hungarian cinema kick this month for sure, and boy have I found some winners. This movie takes a hard look at life in the Soviet Union. Imagine living in a time or place where freedom was not an accepted concept. Where keeping your family fed and happy was out of your hands.

I love movies that force the viewer and the characters in the film to re-evaluate their outlook on life and their own capacity for sympathy and understanding. This film does just that.

You will have a new and deeper understanding of these times for having watched this film. It really did prove to me that Hungarian cinema is alive and well.