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The Witness

Original title: A tanú
  • 1969
  • 1h 45m
IMDb RATING
8.6/10
8.3K
YOUR RATING
György Bálint in The Witness (1969)
SatireComedyDrama

A poor Hungarian dyke-keeper is caught in the politics of illegally slaughtering his pig by a corrupt and deceitful system of government.A poor Hungarian dyke-keeper is caught in the politics of illegally slaughtering his pig by a corrupt and deceitful system of government.A poor Hungarian dyke-keeper is caught in the politics of illegally slaughtering his pig by a corrupt and deceitful system of government.

  • Director
    • Péter Bacsó
  • Writers
    • Péter Bacsó
    • János Ujhelyi
  • Stars
    • Ferenc Kállai
    • Lajos Öze
    • Zoltán Fábri
  • See production info at IMDbPro
  • IMDb RATING
    8.6/10
    8.3K
    YOUR RATING
    • Director
      • Péter Bacsó
    • Writers
      • Péter Bacsó
      • János Ujhelyi
    • Stars
      • Ferenc Kállai
      • Lajos Öze
      • Zoltán Fábri
    • 12User reviews
    • 8Critic reviews
  • See production info at IMDbPro
  • See production info at IMDbPro
  • Photos18

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    Top cast37

    Edit
    Ferenc Kállai
    • Pelikán József, gátõr
    Lajos Öze
    • Virág Árpád
    • (as Õze Lajos)
    Zoltán Fábri
    Zoltán Fábri
    • Dániel Zoltán
    Béla Both
    • Bástya elvtárs
    Georgette Mertzhradt
    • Potocsni elvtársnõ (beszédtanár; szerep-betanító)
    • (as Georgette Mertzradt)
    Róbert Rátonyi
    • Operettszínész
    • (as Róbert Ráthonyi)
    Károly Bicskey
    • Gulyás Elemér
    • (as Károly Bicskei)
    Lili Monori
    Lili Monori
    • Gizi
    László Vámos
    • Idegorvos
    Ida Versényi
    • Gogolák elvtársnõ
    György Bálint
    Pál Bánó
    • Bíró
    Tibor Fehér
    • Börtönõr
    József Iványi
    • Rendõr
    Pál Jákó
    • Orvos
    György Kézdy
    • Virág testõre
    • (as György Kézdi)
    Péter Korbuly
    • Virág testõre
    Lajos Mezey
    • Író
    • (as Lajos Mezei)
    • Director
      • Péter Bacsó
    • Writers
      • Péter Bacsó
      • János Ujhelyi
    • All cast & crew
    • Production, box office & more at IMDbPro

    User reviews12

    8.68.2K
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    Featured reviews

    meitschi

    A Hungarian cult movie

    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.

    It will be probably fully understood only by people who have some idea of the communist system, but is also watchable for other audiences.
    10IlMatto

    The top product of the Hungarian movie

    This movie did what the other Hungarians couldn't: Really enjoyable and makes the Hungarian '50-s era understandable even for foreigners who have never lived under communist regime. No need to say more.

    Well, OK. Just because of the commenting rules.

    This movie is full of unforgettable characters. Comrade Virág and the old logopedist lady are my favorites. This aspect is one of the many strong points of the Tanú. And so on, the play of the actors, the sentences and termini technici which became part of the national culture, the great atmosphere, the unique sense of humor made this movie a masterpiece. After more then 20 times of watching, it still can't become boring.
    8jinx_

    "Well, comrade Pelikan, life is not all beer and skittles.." (8/10)

    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. Yes, laughing at them is mortal to any dictatures...
    Pinkai

    No, Not there!!!!!

    Thanks to my Hungarian colleague, who lent me the DVD, I watched this interesting and excellent movie. And what a movie it was!

    From the beginning till the end, this absurd drama entertains, amuses and at the same time, makes one think. The best point of this movie is the central character, who is a simple person, who does not know how to protest, who believes that all the decisions taken by (and the words uttered by) the Comrades in power must be correct, and who therefore obeys their orders unquestioned, and yet tries to be innovative, and thus unwittingly exposes the stupidity and absurdity that lies at the core of their ideology.

    I never knew that Hungary makes good movies (maybe because of the more widely known movies and movie makers from Poland and Czech; though I was told that Hungary produces perhaps the best brains in the world, at least, in Mathematics.), but now I know it otherwise.

    If you like a good political satire, just watch it.
    Miles-10

    "Don't call it a lemon, comrade. It's a Hungarian orange."

    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 naranz?) which actually turns out to be a lemon. Is it politically incorrect to call a lemon "a lemon"?

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    Related interests

    Peter Sellers in Dr. Strangelove or: How I Learned to Stop Worrying and Love the Bomb (1964)
    Satire
    Will Ferrell in Anchorman: The Legend of Ron Burgundy (2004)
    Comedy
    Mahershala Ali and Alex R. Hibbert in Moonlight (2016)
    Drama

    Storyline

    Edit

    Did you know

    Edit
    • Trivia
      Several quotes from the movie, especially the ones "the international situation is intensifying" and "life is not a whipped-cream cake" have become part of everyday speech in Hungary.
    • Quotes

      Virág Árpád: Life is not a whipped-cream cake, Pelikán.

    • Alternate versions
      Uncensored version: In a longer scene, you can see how in the prison they talk about the thousand years of existence of the Catholic Church and the few years of socialism in comparison. In this version, they don't smoke in prison. Comrade Pelikán visits Zoltán Dániel in prison, where he has already been completely broken. As a result, Pelikán decides to testify. When the guard takes Pelikan to the place of execution, upon their arrival, in the uncensored version, the camera also shows the gallows ready for execution. At the end of the prison scene, the guard tells Pelikán: Get out of here, because I'm going to rage!. Instead of "I get angry", he originally said: "I shoot you in the ass", but due to censorship, it had to be dubbed over, but you can read the original, more stylistic text from his mouth. In the uncensored version, it can be heard with the original text. The last scene, in which Comrade Pelikán and Virág meet on the tram, was completely cut out (because it had to be inserted later, for ideological reasons, due to the positive ending). Therefore, the film ends with Pelican wandering around the big city uncertainly. He stops next to a young man reading a newspaper and asks what day it is, then what month it is. He tells him, but Pelikán even inquires about Duna's position, and the young man asks if Pelikán should also be his bride. In this version, the Marx quote is at the beginning of the film between the cast list and the Attila József quote.
    • Connections
      Followed by Megint tanú (1995)
    • Soundtracks
      Jaj, cica
      Music by Emmerich Kálmán

      Lyrics by Leo Stein and Béla Jenbach

      Performed by Róbert Rátonyi

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    FAQ11

    • How long is The Witness?Powered by Alexa

    Details

    Edit
    • Release date
      • June 6, 1979 (Hungary)
    • Country of origin
      • Hungary
    • Language
      • Hungarian
    • Also known as
      • Der Zeuge
    • Production company
      • MAFILM Stúdió 1
    • See more company credits at IMDbPro

    Tech specs

    Edit
    • Runtime
      • 1h 45m(105 min)
    • Color
      • Color
    • Sound mix
      • Mono
    • Aspect ratio
      • 2.35 : 1

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