Part I: Overview and the 1960s and 70s
EDITORIAL
Miklós who?
A round-up of Miklós Jancsó's career
Jancsó is a giant of world cinema, yet his works are rarely seen and much of his oeuvre languishes in total obscurity. Andrew James Horton introduces Kinoeye's special focus on Jancsó with an overview of the director's stylistic and thematic development.
This silly profession
Miklós Jancsó interviewed
Jancsó is often perceived of as a very "Hungarian" director, with a love of history and a dislike for montage. The octagenarian director tells Andrew James Horton about his Romanian roots and affinities with Jewish culture, why he gave up on history 20 years ago only to come back to it in his latest film and the reason he no longer uses long takes.
The rooster is crowing
"Jewish themes" in Jancsó's films
Jancsó's recurring interest in Jewish culture is one aspect of his work that has consistently been overlooked by critics—including Hungarian ones. György Báron reflects on the director's hitherto unrecognised obsession.
Two men against history
A comparative look at
Andrzej Wajda and Jancsó
Hungary and Poland, to a large degree, have parallel and interlocking histories. Krzysztof Rucinski looks at how the two film masters of these nations have presented the past and themes of oppression in their early masterpieces.
The aura of history
Jancsó's depictions of the year 1919
Jancsó's films are frequently set in obscure moments of the past, such as 1919, suggesting a degree in European history is needed to understand their context. Andrew James Horton argues that Jancsó is really not that interested in the past at all and merely uses it as a backdrop for timeless and mythic struggles.
Private truths, public lies
Jancsó's Vizi privati, pubbliche virtú
(Private Vices, Public Virtues, 1975)
Vizi privati, along with other Jancsó films made in Italy, has either been ignored or derided. Rolland Man argues that this is not just a "naughty" film but a compelling analysis of how rebels without a cause are doomed to fail.
The denial of oppression
Three Hungarian works by
Jancsó from the 1970s
Jancsó's Hungarian films of the 70s continued the extreme stylisation that had featured in his previous work but moved further away from naturalism and realism. Peter Hames undertakes a detailed analysis of three of them.
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