The Witness
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Movie Reviews of The Witness
Movie Review: A Peek into the 1950s in Stalinist Eastern Europe
Summary: 5 Stars
Péter Bacsó's brilliant film "A Tanu" (The Witness) is a classic of political satire and highly recommended for any film collection specializing in politics or humor. Shot in 1969 but set in the dark Stalinist period of twenty years earlier, the film approaches the gruesome subject of the Stalinist purges through typical Eastern European dark humor, focusing on the fictional life of a simple earthen dam tender, József Pelikán, who gets inadvertantly caught up in larger political storms far beyond his small world in rural Hungary. Though clearly white-washed and "kid-gloved" in many respects - for instance, the prison scenes portrayed seem quite civil and belie the widespread use of torture by the communists in this era - the film still confronts many aspects of this historical period that can still, in this simplified form, shock us today. Indeed, the film itself was banned by the communist Hungarian government in 1969 until 1981 (for showings outside Hungary) and finally in 1989 when the communist regime imploded. Bacsó includes scenes that show aspects of life at that time which Western observers might overlook, such as the near-famine conditions due to food production and distribution networks being severely undermined by Stalinist policies, or the irony of a loyal but naive communist like the protagonist, József Pelikán, ending up in the same prison cell as the former fascist collaborator who tortured Pelikán during World War II. This, again, is how Eastern Europeans use humor to describe or approach bitter historical subjects. The extreme ideological focus of those years that produced so much lunacy and incompetence will be hillariously apparent to all watchers, however, and this film is guaranteed to make you laugh. An inside joke in Hungary today that originated from this film, by the way, is the Hungarian orange - the subject of some hysterically funny scenes in the film - which a post-1989 political party, FIDESZ, adopted as its symbol. This film fits majestically into a larger category of communist-era satire films such as those by the Czech director Jiri Menzel, and is highly recommended.Movie Review: "Well, comrade Pelikan, life is not all beer and skittles.."
Summary: 5 Stars
As being a Hungarian myself, I might have a soft spot for this film, but I find it extremely funny anyway.However, I feel I should add some background to those who never lived in a totalitarian personality cult. An era where the best was to keep your mouth shut even among your best friends, for you could not be sure who will report on you. In an era where a big black car might have stopped at your house in the middle of the night to take you and never let you go again. In an era where when deciding about executives, it was your loyalty that mattered not your skill or know-how. Where everyone stated the lemon to be an orange, if it was the dictum of the leaders. Where not clapping hard enough when "our leader" Rakosi addressed the crowd was enough for imprisonment.All the events described in this film might seem absurd - but I have to say they easily could have and did happen during the '50s in the East of Europe.Although the regime softened a bit, in 1969 making this film was still not the safest thing to. Not surprisingly it wasn't aired for almost a decade. But since then, it became a cult film by any means. Lines like "Well, comrade Pelikan, life is not all beer and skittles.." are known and quoted by everyone.
Movie Review: Don't call it a lemon, comrade. It's a Hungarian orange.
Summary: 5 Stars
I rank this with "Dr. Strangelove" as one of the funniest political satires I have ever seen. I saw it about 18 years ago at the Mill Valley Film Festival in Marin County, California. I am not Hungarian and have never lived under communism, yet I laughed out of recognition at Peter Bocso's critique of a system so involved with policing itself against imaginary reactionaries that it stops taking care of practical business. The hero is an everyman in charge of flood control at a dam. He is taken to the capital to be a witness in a show trial. Meanwhile, who is minding the dam? While he waits for the court to call on him, the star witness is given a series of do-nothing jobs for which he would not be qualified even if they weren't bogus. The funniest involves supervising the development of the first Hungarian orange (Magyar narancs) which actually turns out to be a lemon. Is it politically incorrect to call a lemon "a lemon"?Movie Review: Dr. Strangelove revisited
Summary: 5 Stars
Peter Bacso's "The Witness" is a great satire, probably the best one on communist regimes. Its humor is quite similar to Kubrick's Dr. Strangelove. This film openly ridicules the communist regime. No wonder it was banned immediatelly after post-production was completed. The only handicap of this film is that it was not made in America, thus, hardly anyone knows about it over here. This shouldn't discourage people from buying this witty comedy. Very highly recommended.
Movie Review: The ultimate cult movie
Summary: 5 Stars
This film can probably be called THE Hungarian cult movie.It is a very sad comedy, but with a lot of hilariously funny and original ideas. Made in 1969, a time of political liberalization, it was banned before its first screening and could not be shown in Hungary till 1978. Although the plot takes place in the Rákosi era (1949-1956), the darkest years in Hungarian communism, its anarchical criticism of the communist regime also had impact on the time it was made in.