Hungarian auteur Miklós Jancsó (The Red And The White) might have won the 1968 Palme d’Or with this musical hybrid, had Cannes not shut down in support of the Paris student strikes.
A not-so-subtle parallel to that upheaval, Jancsó’s first colour film is set in 1947 Hungary, as the Communists take power.
Elegantly shot in long takes (and beautifully restored for its DVD debut), its odd mix of intellectual chin-scratching and happy-clappy kids singing campfire songs about passive resistance makes it more of a curio than a classic.
DVD Extras:
- Booklet
