While the names have been changed, any Hungarian will immediately realize who is who... especially Mátyás Kárász - a new name for the liberal/democratic politician and later Budapest mayor for 20 years, Gábor Demszky. The movie shows a young man, who starts out rebelling against the communist system (from the left, he was a devout maoist)... But he eventually realizes that his own family is a beneficiary of the communist system, when he is bailed out of jail for distributing political pamphlets. After facing the truth that not only are the true powers in the communist government (bypassing the ailing party commisar János Kádár) know that a change is coming, but are already preparing for it, he betrays his friends and joins them, abandoning his liberal principles for being the poster boy of change, and is rewarded with fame and the important position of mayor.
The movie has some good actors (usually the older ones) and some rather bad ones (the younger ones). But, it recaptures the setting of the 80ies perfectly in both in look and feel. A time where while people had the western freedom dangled before them, but also thought "maybe the current communist system isn't so bad" and most were reluctant to rebel against the "soft socialism" of Kádár. But unknown to most people, change was coming whether we wanted it or not, and those in power started preparing to keep their fortune and influence even if the system changes. The young rebels and blooming politicians who thought they were breaking ground by creating new political parties in secret, they thought they were working against the system - in truth, they were observed and guided to a bloodless revolution, a natural change of the guard leaving the "eminent grey", the string-pullers, where they were before. We all saw how much worse all this could have gone without them with the bloody end of the Ceausescu regime in neighboring Romania, of course... but by letting them keep their power, perhaps we merely chose the lesser evil?
