János Herskó Movies
János Herskó is a prominent Hungarian filmmaker who helped establish his country's cinema following WW II. He is also an actor and a screenwriter. He moved to Sweden in the early 1970s. In addition to filmmaking, Herskó also taught at the Budapest Academy of Cinematographic Art. ~ Sandra Brennan, Rovi- 1994
This eccentric Hungarian comedy features director Andras Szoke playing an extremely nearsighted mole who comes out of his hole to see the world. The other characters in the film are a constantly fighting married couple who could be the mole's parents. The mole's talking photo album is also featured. ~ Sandra Brennan, Rovi
- Starring:
- János Herskó, Eszter Gyalog, (more)
Europa (retitled Zentropa for the American release) is an hallucinatory Danish film set in postwar Germany. Jean-Marc Barr plays a young German who aspires for a job as a street conductor. But this is no mere "Joe Job;" Barr's adventures on the line are designed as a metaphor for the emergence of the "New Europe" following the war. Barbara Sukowa costars as the daughter of a railroad magnate--and possible Nazi sympathizer. Many of the special-effects sequences are computer enhanced, but even the "live" scenes have an unsettling, surreal quality to them (colors changing abruptly, backgrounds shifting without warning, etc.) This experimental film left some viewers confused, which may be why English-language prints of Zentropa are narrated by Max Von Sydow. ~ Hal Erickson, Rovi
- Starring:
- Jean-Marc Barr, Barbara Sukowa, (more)
- 1989
This international thriller is allegedly based on a true incident in which Israeli secret agents bearing Lebanese passports killed a Moroccan guest worker living in Sweden because they believed he was a Palestinian terrorist. In the story, Hamilton (Stellan Skarsgard), a Swedish naval officer, is recruited by his country's secret service to investigate the suspicious killing of an expert on Middle Eastern affairs. When he discovers that the killer was probably Israeli, he is officially taken off the case. Being a persistent fellow, he refuses to take the hint, and travels to Lebanon to follow up on his leads. This stirs up a real hornets nest, leading to his having a climactic confrontation with Israeli assasins when he gets back home in Sweden. ~ Clarke Fountain, Rovi
- Starring:
- Stellan Skarsgård, Lennart Hjulström, (more)
The internationally produced The Inside Man was inspired by a true story. In 1981, a Soviet submarine ran aground on the coast of Sweden. The sub was carrying a hush-hush laser search device, which promptly vanished. In this 1984 recreation of the incident, Dennis Hopper is cast as the CIA agent assigned to track down the missing laser. Aided by young assistant Gosta Ekman Jr., Hopper finds himself in a life-and-death struggle with a variety of foreign agents, each with his own agenda. Hardy Kruger co-stars in this rugged adventure yarn. ~ Hal Erickson, Rovi
- Starring:
- Dennis Hopper, Hardy Kruger, (more)
A detective plagued by headaches goes to a hypnotist and relives his investigation into a serial killer case in Lars von Trier's first feature, The Element of Crime. Fisher (Michael Elphick), a retired policeman, returns to Europe at the behest of his mentor, Osborne (Esmond Knight of The Red Shoes). Osborne, the author of an influential textbook called The Element of Crime, has given up his investigation into the Lotto Murders, in which a number of lottery ticket salesgirls have been killed and mutilated. The new chief of police, Kramer (former Benny Hill Show regular Jerold Wells), is a trigger-happy lunatic who objects to Fisher's methodical approach to crime solving. Osborne, meanwhile, seemingly losing his grip on reality, insists that the killer, Harry Grey, died in a car crash. Using Osborne's methods, Fisher tries to delve into the mind of Grey by following the path of a trip the killer took three years earlier, while Osborne was investigating him. Along the way, Fisher hooks up with a prostitute, Kim (Me Me Lai), who also has a link to Grey. As he gets closer to unraveling the mystery, Fisher finds himself taking on more and more aspects of the killer's persona. Von Trier uses a traditional film noir style voice-over, while visually, his film is a monochromatic sepia tone with occasional flashes of fluorescent blue. This film brought von Trier international attention, paving the way for his success with Zentropa and The Kingdom. ~ Josh Ralske, Rovi
- Starring:
- Michael Elphick, Esmond Knight, (more)
In The Father (Apa), Hungarian filmmaker Istvan Szabo invests a great deal of poetry and warmth in a story that, in lesser hands, might have become a wallow in bathos. After his father is killed in World War II, a young Hungarian boy named Tako concocts a fantasy image of the parent he never really knew. Convincing himself of his father's unstinting bravery, the boy grows into a man (Andras Balint) who hopes to emulate his dad's heroism. During the 1956 uprising, our hero falls in love with Jewish refugee Anni (Kati Solyom). Apprised of the horrors experienced by Anni's people during the Holocaust, Tako decides to find out whether or not his father was truly the noble warrior he's imagined him to be. It turns out that the father was neither wholly good nor wholly evil, just an average Hungarian hoping to make the best of a difficult world. At long last, Tako is able to divest himself of his father's shadow and become a man on his own terms. ~ Hal Erickson, Rovi
- Starring:
- Andras Balint, Miklos Gabor, (more)
- 1967
In this Hungarian melodrama, Semjen recently freed from a Nazi concentration camp destroyed by Russian tanks marries her idealistic sweetheart Sinkovits. Initially, they are very happy. But then her husband is locked up by the Stalinists. The pragmatic Semjen then reunites with Sztankai, her childhood love. He is now a proletarian poet. Many years pass; Sinkovits is finally freed. Unfortunately, he and his wife have drifted apart. The year is 1956 as Russian tanks rumble through Hungary. Semjen begins to remember the times she shared with Sinkovits after she was freed. She returns to him and they begin building a worker's paradise in their homeland. ~ Sandra Brennan, Rovi
- 1967
Vera (Maria Nemenyi) is a 17-year-old girl who elects to spend her summer at a college work camp instead of with her parents and younger brother. She is hospitalized after a bicycle accident and is befriended by Terus, an older woman with a grown son. When Vera is invited to attend the wedding of Terus' son, a guitar player tries to pick her up at the reception, but she spurns his advances. Vera then thumbs a ride to be with her estranged boyfriend, which gives her time to think about her life and her transition from teen to young adult. ~ Dan Pavlides, Rovi
- 1963
Laszlo is a militant Communist who marries Judit, a woman freed from a concentration camp. All is well for the couple until Laszlo is arrested by Stalinists who wish to rid the country of supporters of the old party. He is gone for four years before he can return to Judit, but he finds that much has changed. Judit has been having an affair with a young and progressive writer and they find their marriage too strained. When the 1956 uprising occurs, the two find themselves to be on opposite sides of the struggle. This Hungarian drama was written and directed by Janos Hersko). ~ Kristie Hassen, Rovi
- Starring:
- Imre Sinkovits, Istvan Sztankay, (more)
- 1958
Thanks to the political combustibility of the Hungarian film industry in 1958, Vasvirag ran into some interference when it was entered in that year's Cannes Film Festival. Also known as Iron Flower, the film is a romantic drama, set during the worldwide Depression of the 1930s. Though the shopgirl heroine is in love with a man of her own financial class, she succumbs to the seductive machinations of her wealthy boss. The girl learns to regret her choice in life, but only when it is too late to win back her true love. It's an old story, but told with innovation and nuance. ~ Hal Erickson, Rovi
- Starring:
- Mari Töröcsik, Zoltan Varkonyi, (more)
