Torzók

This is a Hungarian film about a child being abandoned by his father. The child was sent to an orphanage, where he and other children were treated cruelly by the orphanage master. The children could not tolerate such torture anymore, and decided to escape. Although, the escape was successful, one of the children fell into the river and died. Another child got a high fever. Therefore, they had to seek help. Back in the orphanage they were punished cruelly, and the children were made to bear the name of murderers.

I think it would be good if the film would say something about why the children suddenly ended up back in the orphanage after their escape. Did they walk back? Were they caught by the police? Were they caught by the orphanage master? It didn't say in the film.

When I watched this film, I felt very sad. I could not believe that children could be treated so badly. They had to whip each other as a form of punishment. If they show any mercy they will be punished too. In this environment of terror, I think it is very harmful to the development of the children. Without love and care, the children will grow up to become delinquents.

And yet, I believe that there are many institution in the world that treats children like this. As many people would know, the orphan problem is very bad in Eastern Europe. There are many orphans living in orphanages, and even more orphans have to live on the streets or in the sewers. They are left alone by their parents, and even outcast by their society.

I feel very touched by this film. Indeed, many viewers of this film were touched, too, they felt very sorry for the children. Maybe this film can increase the awareness of the orphan problem in the world. When the awareness increase, then the children are more likely to receive a better treatment.

This film is set in an orphanage in Hungary in 1960. Aaron is left there by his father. At first the other boys abuse him, but soon they accept him. Unfortunately, the man who runs the orphanage is sadistic and cruel.

While the film feels manipulative at times and seems to have the basic message that life sucks, the one word I would use to describe the film is "haunting." The performances are very good, especially considering the young age of most of the actors. The cinematography and direction are also quite good, especially in the arresting dream sequences near the beginning and end of the film. Most people will probably never have a chance to see this, but I highly recommend it if you do. Seen at Cinequest (the San Jose, CA film festival) on 2/22/2002.

Arpad Sopsits directs a monumental movie in Torzok. Not the Hollywood honey- smeared teddy-bear story. Here, with a masterful skill, he tells a story that, sadly, was and is frequent everywhere in the world.

Abandoned by his hating father, Aron is thrown into a world of despair and violence. Endured stoically by the children in a communist-era orphanage, their plight is fundamentally surviving.

The way the director-writer casts special spells on some of his characters, makes this film incredibly unnerving, disturbing. The ominous dread of injustice just around the corner, behind every door, at the lips of the traitors, is enough to keep the children in a tense and maddening situation.

What makes this film so special is that Sopsits deals with the forbidden in a way that transcends beauty. The beauty of childhood. The beauty of innocence. Against the hatred and folly of the torturers. Religion and religious spirit play a central part in this play. The story unfolds with lots of different wings. Every one of them of different colours and hues. But all of them masterfully intertwined to let the story flow.

This film can leave you shattered and shivering. Maybe sobbing in frustration and anger. But the nuances of love, moral spirit and unbreakable will in the children, are more than enough to praise this work as a very deep reflection on good and evil. As a key to try solving the innermost doubts we all have some time in our lives. And to centre our motivations in thoughts of hope, that are always the flames that kindle the human spirit, no matter the age.

Since my view of most films is, first, as a cinematographer, I'd like to comment on it, too.

The approach to this film is minimalist. Lighting is kept to its bare minimum, pushing film to all what it can give in available light situations. The scenes are lit and photographed in such a way, that effectively conveys the mood of the story.

Almost complete darkness is used in some very disturbing scenes. There's no place for joyful moods, except in some of Aron's dreams, that are ethereal and surreal, but extremely powerful. The operation of the steadicam in some scenes is perfect. Everything fits in place to tell the story. And never wanders into worlds of glamour, flashiness, silky and smooth images. The director and his DoP did a job that is almost never seen in big productions. And, from my point of view, this kind of approach leads to realistic images and straightforward story telling.

The transfer on DVD is pristine. The sound is absolutely amazing, with a score that may be one of the most naturally haunting I've ever heard, relying mostly on cellos and upright bass. I think there should be a special prize for After Crying... the music is perfect.

Winner of so many awards, this film has not been released in Britain and was not shown except in festivals.

We have all (or at least I have) seen tons of stories about kids growing up in an orphanage, without the loving care of parents. You can watch this film as if it were another one of these stories. But it isn't.

Though I suspect at least part of the story is autobiographical, Arpad Sopsits manages to turn it into an allegory of dictatorship. Though the boys are completely cut off from the outside world (they do not communicate with anyone from there), the atmosphere pretty much models the general feeling in Hungary after the cruel suppression of the 1956 revolution. Religion is severely punished, humiliation takes place every day, children are made to spy on one another. Nyitrai, the only humane teacher, is known to have been in prison after the revolution, and now finds escape in astronomy and music. The head of the institution is himself scared stiff of the State which might find out if he gets too lenient. When a sadistic teacher is criticized for his methods, he replies: "I'm cruel to them because the world is cruel, too. I'm just preparing them for what to expect outside." The possibility of an idealized, innocent childhood is lost for these children.

My parents grew up at the same time as the film takes place. They never encountered such cruelty; nevertheless, I think the film is entirely realistic. Some comments say they can't really identify with this story as it takes place in a very different country. But think it over: does it? I think any dictatorship, big or small, operates the same way. And it is usually invisible to people not directly affected by it.

I wonder if viewers sometimes give a film low marks not because it's poorly made, but because it's a film that doesn't deliver a happy ending, nice and tidy--just as others can't stand The Sound of Music because the finale, though cherry, is overly simplistic, given the circumstances. Abandoned is about the way some institutions operated in Hungary at a certain time and place, the way government at all levels abandoned it's responsibility as did parents and teachers and those in charge of children. This is not a make-believe Rodgers and Hammerstein song-fest with happy kiddies mindlessly dancing by the riverside, but a grim and realistic picture of the hopelessness of a happy future when the system fails everyone. It is not a cheerer-upper but a well-acted film accurately reflecting a time and place--so if you're looking for children rising above a situation over which they have no control, this is not the film for you. But it is an often compelling film which was meant to make a positive difference, and as such, one gives it credit.