This is probably the best horse-racing film ever made, and it is based on a true story: the horse actually existed and won 54 races and was never beaten. The horse is the main character here, and the moment she is introduced you will follow her closely glued to the screen whenever she appears and triumphs in every scene, even when it becomes really critical. Around the horse is spun a romantic intrigue, a real romantic novel of forbidden love, revenge, horrible injustice, deep friendship turning into the opposite, despair and tragedy, and of course it's impossible to like or accept all of it. Ervin Nagy plays a hopeless character to begin with, but I could tolerate him when I found a close resemblance between him and king Ludwig II of Bavaria - the same kind of hopeless lack of judgement. His friend Tamas Keresztes makes a much more sympathetic and interesting character, while the girl Andrea Petrik, with her invalidity, adds plenty of spice to the show. To this comes the cat, which plays an enormously important role although saying nothing, not even miaowing, and constitutes perhaps the key to the story and saves it. This is a very spectacular film reminiscent above all of "Anna Karenina" with Keira Knightly, and the ballroom scenes must have been inspired from that film. But it's the horses that count. The one great portion of humour is presented by the one Englishman in the play, a jockey, whose introduction is perhaps the most unforgettable instance in the film - in bed. This is an adventure that will keep you alert and on the double in the horse-racing scenes.
