The Witness (Hungarian: A tanú, also known as Without A Trace), is a 1969 Hungarian satirecomedy film, directed by Péter Bacsó. The film was created in a tense political climate at a time when talking about the early 1950s and the 1956 Revolution was still taboo. Although it was financed and allowed to be made by the communist authorities, it was subsequently banned from release and grew a cult film following among the population.[1] As a result of its screening in foreign countries, the communist authorities eventually relented and allowed it to be released in Hungary. It was screened at the 1981 Cannes Film Festival in the Un Certain Regard section.[2] A sequel was made in 1994 named "Megint tanú" (English: Witness Again).
The film features József Pelikán as a single father who previously participated in the WW2 communist movement of Hungary, but is now working as a dike-reeve. He meets an old friend from the underground communist movement, Zoltán Dániel, now a government official who fishes at the Danube, near the dike. Dániel falls in the river, and Pelikán rescues him and invites him to his home. While the two reminisce old times at Pelikán's home, the ÁVH suddenly appears. They received a "serious anonymous report" stating Pelikán committed an illegal act of slaughtering a pig for food. Dániel tries to save him by demonstrating to the ÁVH thugs how the loyal Pelikán hid him during the purgings years before, but he unknowingly reveals the basement, where all the pork had been hidden. Pelikán is taken to prison though later released, on "higher command". Comrade Virág, being unnecessarily benevolent, gives various assignments to Pelikán such as being the CEO of a swimming pool, an amusement park, and an orange research institute. Pelikán, being "ideologically under-educated", fails magnificently in all his assignments, visiting the prison regularly, until they ultimately succeed with the orange research institute and are awarded. As it turns out, all this was arranged to force Pelikán to be the witness in a show trial against his old friend, Zoltán Dániel, who fell out of the favour of the communist regime. Pelikán is meticulously reshaped to fit the expected image of the archetypical "Hungarian worker, 1950" to be the perfect witness. Before the trial they present Pelikán with a pre-written testimony he must memorize, but at the end, before the judge, accused, Comrade Virág, and top communist leaders, Pelikán decides to tell the truth instead. He is thrown back in prison as a reprisal. While awaiting hanging, the political climate changes due to Stalin's death and he is released and he meets once again with Comrade Virág on the tram who has lost all his former power and influence.
witness, 1969, hungarian, film, witness, hungarian, tanú, also, known, without, trace, 1969, hungarian, satire, comedy, film, directed, péter, bacsó, film, created, tense, political, climate, time, when, talking, about, early, 1950s, 1956, revolution, still, t. The Witness Hungarian A tanu also known as Without A Trace is a 1969 Hungarian satire comedy film directed by Peter Bacso The film was created in a tense political climate at a time when talking about the early 1950s and the 1956 Revolution was still taboo Although it was financed and allowed to be made by the communist authorities it was subsequently banned from release and grew a cult film following among the population 1 As a result of its screening in foreign countries the communist authorities eventually relented and allowed it to be released in Hungary It was screened at the 1981 Cannes Film Festival in the Un Certain Regard section 2 A sequel was made in 1994 named Megint tanu English Witness Again A tanuDVD coverDirected byPeter BacsoWritten byPeter Bacso Janos UjhegyiStarringFerenc Kallai Lajos Oze Bela Both Lili MonoriMusic byGyorgy VukanDistributed byMafilmRunning time103 minutesCountryHungaryLanguageHungarianIn April 2019 a restored version of the film was selected to be shown in the Cannes Classics section at the 2019 Cannes Film Festival 3 Contents 1 Plot 2 Cast 3 References 4 Notes 5 External linksPlot editThe film features Jozsef Pelikan as a single father who previously participated in the WW2 communist movement of Hungary but is now working as a dike reeve He meets an old friend from the underground communist movement Zoltan Daniel now a government official who fishes at the Danube near the dike Daniel falls in the river and Pelikan rescues him and invites him to his home While the two reminisce old times at Pelikan s home the AVH suddenly appears They received a serious anonymous report stating Pelikan committed an illegal act of slaughtering a pig for food Daniel tries to save him by demonstrating to the AVH thugs how the loyal Pelikan hid him during the purgings years before but he unknowingly reveals the basement where all the pork had been hidden Pelikan is taken to prison though later released on higher command Comrade Virag being unnecessarily benevolent gives various assignments to Pelikan such as being the CEO of a swimming pool an amusement park and an orange research institute Pelikan being ideologically under educated fails magnificently in all his assignments visiting the prison regularly until they ultimately succeed with the orange research institute and are awarded As it turns out all this was arranged to force Pelikan to be the witness in a show trial against his old friend Zoltan Daniel who fell out of the favour of the communist regime Pelikan is meticulously reshaped to fit the expected image of the archetypical Hungarian worker 1950 to be the perfect witness Before the trial they present Pelikan with a pre written testimony he must memorize but at the end before the judge accused Comrade Virag and top communist leaders Pelikan decides to tell the truth instead He is thrown back in prison as a reprisal While awaiting hanging the political climate changes due to Stalin s death and he is released and he meets once again with Comrade Virag on the tram who has lost all his former power and influence Cast editFerenc Kallai Jozsef Pelikan dike reeve Lajos Oze Arpad Virag Bela Both Comrade Bastya Zoltan Fabri Zoltan Daniel Lili Monori Gizi Karoly Bicskey Elemer Gulyas Gyorgy Kezdi Virag s detective Jozsef Horvath Railwayman Robert Ratonyi Operetta actorReferences edit A tanu The Witness Festival de Cannes The Witness festival cannes com Retrieved 2009 06 05 Cannes Classics 2019 Festival de Cannes 26 April 2019 Retrieved 26 April 2019 Notes editJanet Maslin New York Times review September 26 1981External links editPORT hu The Witness at IMDb Retrieved from https en wikipedia org w index php title The Witness 1969 Hungarian film amp oldid 1181892564, wikipedia, wiki, book, books, library,
