Previous reviews have failed to take account of this film's "Sitz im Leben"-- the current situation in Hungary, where the Fidesz government under Orbán Viktor has played footsie with the broad swath of irredentist voters who continue to harbor anti-Semitic leanings. Hungary has not yet come to terms with its role in the murder of its Jewish citizens. For example, the recently erected monument to Victims of Nazi Aggression portrays Hungary as a Victim State, not as a willing cooperator in the execution of roughly 5% of the national population. But it was Hungarian officials that carried out the orders, not Germans. Hungarian officialdom and non-officialdom was more than willing to participate in the Holocaust, but they are loath to acknowledge any corporate responsibility.
A personal but illustrative anecdote. About seven years ago I was teaching at a gimnázium in a town not far from Budaptest and went to see the movie "Avatar" at a local theater over a weekend. The next Monday, as part of English conversation class, I told my students what I had done, that I had gone to thus and such theater to see the movie. The immediate response to my statement came from a student whom I had come to know as a pretty bright kid who was eager to learn. He said, "Oh yes, Jews own that theater."
Where the f*** did that come from? Over the past few years I have realized that it comes from the same deep-rooted inability of Hungarians to understand that their loss of territory after WWI and their continuing economic problems come not from their "enemies" (Jews above all, but Gypsies too) but from themselves and the same culture of self-deception and corruption that is depicted in this film.
Which film, by the way, is elegantly framed and carefully composed, is presented with almost stately precision, and which I highly, highly recommend.
