Metro Cinema Society: The Films of Miklós Jancsó

The Films of Miklós Jancsó

The films of prolific Hungarian director Miklós Jancsó by turns mythic, lyrical, and brutal have been hailed as the product of a singular artistic sensibility. Drawing on incidents from Hungary's turbulent recent past and dramatized around the theme of power as a destructive force in human society, a Jancsó film is visually distinctive with its long shots, virtuoso CinemaScope pans, and striking black and white images. Jancsó stages his existential dramas in a horizontal landscape dotted with rough-hewn barns and silver birch forest, and peopled by warring horsemen, brutalized peasants, and handsome women stripped of their pride by arrogant men in uniform.

Curated by Andrew Hoekstra. Special thanks to Cinematheque Ontario and Bunyik Entertainment for their help. Film descriptions from the LA Hungarian Film Festival.

The Round Up

Director: Miklós Jancsó

Hungary 1966, 94 min, 35mm

Jun 11 & 13 (2009) @ 7pm

Jancsó's breakout film is set amid the summary detention of entire villages as Hapsburg forces try to root out any remnants of Hungary's defeated nationalist guerillas that may still roam the country's sprawling plains. Confined to a wooden fort, peasants... view more

The Red and the White

Director: Miklós Jancsó

Hungary/USSR 1967, 90 min, 35mm

Jun 11 (2009) @ 9pm
Jun 14 (2009) @ 7pm

Jancsó worked in the Soviet Union for this commission in honor of the October Revolution's fiftieth anniversary. As members of the defeated Hungarian army find themselves behind enemy lines at the close of World War I, they end up joining... view more

Silence and Cry

Director: Miklós Jancsó

Hungary 1968, 73 min, 35mm

Jun 12 (2009) @ 7pm
Jun 14 & 16 (2009) @ 9pm

“One of Jancsó’s masterpieces – perhaps even his best film of all – and totally unlike anything else in the cinema” (John Russell Taylor)

Red Psalm

Director: Miklós Jancsó

Hungary 1971, 88 min, 35mm

Jun 12 (2009) @ 9pm
Jun 16 (2009) @ 7pm

"Dazzling… Jancsó's awesome fusion of form with content and politics with poetry equals the exciting innovations of the French New Wave… it may well be the greatest Hungarian film of the sixties and seventies." (Jonathan Rosenbaum)