Forradalom Után - 1990
Andras Szirtes
I am, to say the least, not a great advocate of experimental films. But when a Hungarian filmmaker says that his personal history mingles with the story of The Master and Margarita, and when his film is about a writer who wants to write a great novel but, to circumvent the censorship, writes his novel from the perspective of his cat, and when the film is filled with allusions to The Master and Margarita, well... then, being a webmaster with a sense of responsibility, I should pay attention to it.
In circles of cinephiles, Andras Szirtes is considered one of the most innovative and challenging filmmakers in Europe. From 1987 to 1989 he worked on the experimental film Forradalom után or After the revolution. The film was released in 1990, in the aftermath of the disastrous political changes of his native country Hungary. When he made this film, Szirtes lived in New York for three years.
The «hero» of this film is a middle-aged Hungarian writer who endeavors to write a great novel in a small apartment in suburban New York. Every morning he sits at a table to write, after having fed his cat. The author writes his novel from the perspective of the cat, by the way: the world is seen through the eyes, ears and brains of the pet. By doing so, the author wants to circumvent the censorship. Every night he makes a summary of the experiences of his cat during the past day, and that material is the basis for the novel. The author is not satisfied with the material though. But he doesn't blame the cat for it, he blames the world he can not experience because he has excluded himself from it.
The film looks at the sad legacy of the former communist bloc, filtered through the lens of artistic lyrical Hungarian exiles who live in the East Village, it is an eulogy to an era that has ended, but with creepy for signs of new bread queues and chaos. It is a visual composition, held together by fragments from old Soviet documentaries and pieces of text from The Master and Margarita.
Szirtes says about Forradalom után: «Each of us will experience sooner or later his own personal revolution. This film tells my inner revolution, how I tried to have the emotional bond with my family, my country and my personal existence to influence. My personal story mixes with the story of The Master and Margarita by Bulgakov. Actually it is about how someone just missed the boat of History in his life.»
Technical details
Media
None
Director
Andras Szirtes
Actors
Io Tillett Wright, Ester Karas, Ottiete Frierre, Christof Kohlhofer, Patrick McGrath, Angela Babin and others
Release date
1990
Time
82 minutes
Languages
Hungarian
Subtitles
English
Subtitle project
We haven't made subtitles for this film. It is possible that we will publish the full version later. Meanwhile, we present you this excerpt.