1945

Almost to the end of "1945", writer/ director Ferenc Torok keeps the audience in the dark regarding the rationale of the players. It is a masterful screenplay, full of mystery and expectation, which makes the pacing seem sluggish. Gradually, however, the pieces and clues all fit together in this post-WWII story of past betrayal and cupidity.

The picture was shot in black and white and with an authentic feel of a 40's film. Torok assembled a cast of talented actors, most unknown outside of Hungary, and there is not an amateur performance among them. The star is Peter Rudolf who plays Istvan, the town clerk mainly responsible for what has befallen the town, as the two Hasidic men walk slowly into town with their 'cargo'. I am not going to tip off the reasons behind the plot, but "1945" may be the best film that has played on American soil this year. Be prepared to use your best powers of deduction as the tantalizing story unfolds, because this one will require all your concentration.

It's a brilliant story of guilt and buried secrets coming to the fore. Using the aesthetics of a western with direct borrowing from High Noon and from Sergio Leone, especially the waiting for the train scene in Once Upon a Time in the West. But in this case its used to point the complete absence of any real hero from the story. The most heroic act performed by any character in this movie is going away.

This story is a story about all consuming guilt, about petty jealousies and how sin is its own punishment. But above all it's a story of how the war doesn't end when it ends. And it's done with a very competent hand and deep understanding of cinematic media. A very good ensemble of actors, amazing cinematography, great story and superlative directing.

A very powerful and moving drama. A perfect illustration of human greed. The cinematography of Ferenc Török's team is technically perfect, the authoritative script, well-made costumes and the highly suggestive musical outline. A description of how the infamities perpetrated in the course of life are paid at a high price, on the one hand the devastated Jewish people and on the other those who wanted to take advantage in the bloody period of the war and the territory of none of the material possessions without any mercy. In conclusion, everyone pays, without exception, those who have lost their loved ones in the death camps and those who have lost them for their cruelty. The movements of the camera, the perspectives, the points of view and the objects in the frame are of high school and the film is shot in a beautiful and very clean black and white. The ending is masterful and I think that in my mind the images of the black smoke of the train that can be combined with the lives killed in the crematoria of the Nazi prison camps will never be erased, I cried for them. Magnificent work of art.

This film tells the story of the arrival of two Jewish men in a quiet Hungarian town just after the Second World War. Residents react according to the ghosts of their past, creating a butterfly effect of a disastrous magnitude.

1945" is a beautiful black and white film. Every frame is well thought out. It fits the era of 1945, and enhances the haunting atmosphere of the film.

The story is captivating because it makes you think hard. It tells some aspects of the story through dialogues, but does not tell the entire story plainly. Viewers have to think and recreate the complete story, and that story is a haunting one that leaves a long lasting impact. It is a great film, and I'm glad I had a chance to watch it.

In the immediate aftermath of WWII, the arrival of two Jewish men turns a small Hungarian village upside down. The whole village profited from the deportation and extermination of their former Jewish neighbors, and now everyone fears exposure and ruin.

The petty vindictiveness and corruption of the villagers is their own undoing. All sorts of dire consequences ensue at the merest whiff that the villagers might be forced to take responsibility for their wartime misdeeds. This panic of the natives almost borders on slapstick; it stands in sharp contrast to the methodical, dignified simplicity of the outsiders whom the natives fear.

Great photography, great editing, great acting, great story. I highly recommend 1945.