La juste route

An unflinching portrait of the power of conscience and the human effect of its avoidance. The post-modern narrative of identity politics and Nietzschean and victim culture here vaporizes into the dustbin of history. Human choices matter. Memory matters. Morality matters. Selfishness and structural, political complicity therewith lead to social disintegration. As C.S. Lewis wrote, revenge is the predictable arc of human affairs. There is only one thing that breaks the cycle of material human history and that is forgiveness. Go. See. This. Film.

This film tells the story of the arrival of two Jewish men in a quiet Hungarian town just after the Second World War. Residents react according to the ghosts of their past, creating a butterfly effect of a disastrous magnitude.

1945" is a beautiful black and white film. Every frame is well thought out. It fits the era of 1945, and enhances the haunting atmosphere of the film.

The story is captivating because it makes you think hard. It tells some aspects of the story through dialogues, but does not tell the entire story plainly. Viewers have to think and recreate the complete story, and that story is a haunting one that leaves a long lasting impact. It is a great film, and I'm glad I had a chance to watch it.

During wars, people do hidious crimes. At WW2 many decent, next door people like you and me, took advantage of the anti-jewish pogrom and stole their property. But the war ended in 1945, and some of them manage to return and reclaim their properties... what happened then? The guilt of course, that's what happened. I think it's the only Hungarian film i have ever watched and if you come across it, don't pass it by. Its a film worth seeing.

In the immediate aftermath of WWII, the arrival of two Jewish men turns a small Hungarian village upside down. The whole village profited from the deportation and extermination of their former Jewish neighbors, and now everyone fears exposure and ruin.

The petty vindictiveness and corruption of the villagers is their own undoing. All sorts of dire consequences ensue at the merest whiff that the villagers might be forced to take responsibility for their wartime misdeeds. This panic of the natives almost borders on slapstick; it stands in sharp contrast to the methodical, dignified simplicity of the outsiders whom the natives fear.

Great photography, great editing, great acting, great story. I highly recommend 1945.

This movie is a masterpiece! It depicts antisemitism and guilt after WWII really well. The cinematography, the music and the direction are really stunning. Bergman would have loved it. 10/10. Never forget. We remember.