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“Those who have never seen a film by Jancsó from the 1960s, when this Hungarian director was at his peak, are usually astonished by the experience,” says renowned critic Derek Malcolm in a statement that those of us who have seen the masterpieces The Round Up and The Red and the White know only too well. With The Confrontation, the fifth, and hopefully not the last, of the director’s films to be released by Second Run DVD, the results are, at times, equally astonishing and, although the film never reaches the lofty heights of those previously mentioned, it is the film’s beautiful use of colour that sets it apart from the others.
The Confrontation is Jancsó’s first film to make use of colour and, as the informative essay by Graham Petrie included with the DVD makes clear, it is this “visual and aural style of the film” that moves his aesthetic away from the black and white realism of his previous films into a more colourful and co-ordinated direction.
The film is set, much like with Jancsó’s previous films, in Hungary’s past. In this instance the backdrop is the student protests that occurred in the newly Communist Hungary of 1947. The film draws upon the director’s own experiences with the ‘Peoples’ Colleges’ protests, whose aim was to make University more accessible to working class students, and can clearly be seen as a parallel to the student protests that happened in both France and the United States, as well as elsewhere, during 1968.
The film’s story is centred on a demonstration that takes place in the courtyard of a church run school in which the protesting students try to persuade the school’s students to join their cause. It is through this demonstration that the films theme becomes clear. Whereas Jancsó’s previous films concentrated on an exploration of the power of nature, The Confrontation concentrates on an examination of the tactics and beliefs necessary for revolution, with the student’s loyalties split between two leaders; one who prefers to use compromise and negotiation and the other who sees violence as a necessity.
While the film never reaches the heights of Jancsó’s best films, all in all the film is beautifully colourful, wonderfully choreographed, and ultimately a fascinating experience.
Shane James
Rating:U
BD Release Date: 28 January 2013 (UK)
Director: Miklós Jancsó
Cast: Andrea Drahota, Kati Kovács, Lajos Balázsovits
Buy:The Confrontation (Fényes szelek) [DVD]
