A hídember

It would have been more useful if the truly encyclopaedic wealth of material had been broken up into a 3-4 part mini-series. There is simply too much going on in the almost 40 years of Széchenyi that the film wants to cover, so a lot of prior knowledge is needed for the viewer to understand everything.

The film has already been proclaimed a politically supported and inspired pro-government film by some of the press. Because of this, a hostile atmosphere surrounded the film from the beginning, making it difficult to judge objectively. The accusation that the film is 'falsifying history' comes mainly from the fact that it does not explicitly state that the protagonist committed suicide, but leaves this point open at the end of the film... Of course, this is now known as a fact, but it is still somewhat "floating" in the cultural history. Perhaps it is because the Austrian court really does drive Széchenyi to a quasi-suicide with the shadow of personal menace and the destruction of the family.

Hidember is the most expensive Hungarian film ever made, and this can be seen on the quality of the movie. The subjest of the movie is the life of Istvan Szechenyi, who established the Hungarian Academy of Science, made the first bridge on the DUNA river in Budapest and contributed additionally big sums to the development of Hungary in the XIX. century. At the end of hid life he was murdered by agents of the Habsburg family, as at this time Hungary was part of the Habsburg empire. At the time of filming the production was strongly supported by the Hungarian government, therefore crictics came in big waves from the opposition. (The celebrations for the 1100 (!) years of the existence of the Hungraian State took place in 1996, and had nothing to do with this film.)

The most expensive Hungarian movie ever, budgeted from a special state found: this raised some political criticism before its premiere, as it showed the government's ignorance towards the "democratic" channels of film-sponsorship. The film will probably benefit financially from this controversy, as people seem to fill the cinemas, which is a rare phenomenon for local movies. The relatively huge amount of money was needed as this is a costume movie about the life of the "Greatest Hungarian" count Széchenyi István who lived in the XIX. century and contributed a lot towards the development of the nation in the first half of the century. The movie is spectacular and acting is rather good, too. Unfortunately the story is probably too much encyclopedical, and the viewer sometimes cannot follow what is happening and why. Instead of trying to show all aspects of his eventful life, the writers should have concentrated on a limited subject.

Just saw again the movie after 18 years, and found much better than first time. The film is based on historical events, but wit a lot of emotions and a very strong personal life of the greatest hungarian count Szechenyi. The actor Eperjes is brilliant in his role. For me now, 18 years later, understand a lot more of the hard decisions of the great count, thats film is 10/10.

I think this is a beautiful story about a man, who wanted to change his country. He was not looking for his lost money, he wanted a new Hungary. The story about a great man, love through peace, war and blood. A great story from the hungarian history. Everyone, who like dramas, the 19th century, real heros... have to see this wonderful movie.