Soviet occupation

YESTERDAY CINEMA

The third and last of the diaries of the Hungarian filmmaker Martha Meszaros (1990), dedicated this time to parents, is about the Soviet occupation of 1956. As you will remember, the other diaries were dedicated to children and loves.

The script by Eva Pataki and the director herself follows in the footsteps of extraordinary characters such as Janos (Jan Nowicki), then husband of the director, and Juli (Zsuzsa Czinkoczi).

The latter is a young photographer who studied in Moscow, and who returns to the country after the Soviet occupation, being accused of being a traitor and collaborationist.

However, she follows in the footsteps of the labor leader, who suffers persecution, imprisonment and torture for defending Hungarian independence.

The director shows her solidarity with those people who sing their anthem in prison, who take to the streets to protest, and who refuse to go into exile.

That greatness of spirit reminded us of another great Hungarian filmmaker, Zoltan Fabri, and one of his best films, “The Hungarians.”

“Naplo apamnak anyamnak” was one of the best films of this splendid cycle presented at the National Cinematheque and which included 12 films by this director, born in Budapest on September 19, 1931.