Laszlo Mensaros Movies

Eva (Eszter Nagy-Kaloczy) knows she doesn't work for the secret police, and she isn't spying on her friends and dinner guests, but one of the seven people she has invited to dinner does, and she means to find out who that is. Somehow, the individual in question has mislaid his or her police authority card, which doesn't provide identifying information, and Eva has found it. Throughout the otherwise friendly dinner, the hostess has another, far more unpleasant job, since any one of these people she has trusted could be a part of that hated organization. Then again, the fact that she has this card gives her a little leverage over whoever it is, as their carelessness could get them in trouble. ~ Clarke Fountain, Rovi

The second film in the trilogy made by director Istvan Szabo and actor Klaus Maria Brandauer -- hammocked between Mephisto and Hanussen -- Colonel Redl continues Mephisto's fascination with a man overwhelmed by history. In that film, Brandauer played an actor who tried to ignore the rise of the Third Reich, and here he's an ambitious military officer in pre-World War I Austria whose career path is set early on. In military school, he's forced to inform on a student who's the source of a practical joke; though he beats himself up for being a Judas, he soon realizes that to rise in the ranks he must overcome his peasant background and hide his homosexuality by ingratiating himself with his superiors. In time, he becomes Chief of Military Intelligence for the Austro-Hungarian empire.
Though he professes to hate politics and politicians, Redl also can't avoid them. When the leader for whom Redl is supposedly spying among the officer corps, draws up a list of who can't be exposed for traitorous activities (including Austrian nobles, Hungarians, Czechs, Serbs, Croatians, and even the usual scapegoats, Jews -- the aftershocks of the Dreyfuss affair are still rumbling), he tells Redl that he must find a double of himself, a Ukrainian. Now certain that he will be exposed, Redl surrenders to fate, quoting to his wife from Montaigne: "It's no sin to be involved. It's a sin to remain involved." Brandauer is a wonder as the self-loathing Redl, and Szabo's camera picks up every nuance on his expressive face. The film eschews music except for several party scenes, and the absence of a score is most effective in the final shots of Redl's fellow officers awaiting his fate. ~ Tom Wiener, Rovi

Brady (John Savage) is an American bomber pilot during World War II. While flying over Nazi-occupied Hungary, Brady and his navigator, Swede (Matyas Usztic), are forced to bail out. The good news is that they don't fall into the hands of the Germans; the bad news is that they're captured by a nomadic tribe who hate Americans and Germans with equal fervor. Fortunately, the nomads agree to hide the wounded pilots from the enemy. Though Swede dies, Brady assimilates himself into rural Hungarian society, falling in love with Klara (Ildikó Bánsági) and virtually adopting war orphan Miki (Kelly Reno). The last reels of the film are devoted to Brady's efforts to escape Hungary and join the Yugoslav partisans. This pulse-pounding actioner was released in England as The Long Ride. ~ Hal Erickson, Rovi

This tender black-and-white Hungarian drama takes place in the '50s. A woman's (Mari Torocsik) husband has been arrested by the Hungarian secret police and imprisoned as a dissident. The young wife lives with her mother-in-law (Lili Darvas), a sweet and magnetic woman, appears to believe that her son has emigrated to America. Unable to do anything about her husband's imprisonment, the daughter-in-law keeps the old woman's good cheer alive by concocting a series of letters from her husband, wherein he does incredible and wonderful things. The two of them share the older lady's memories of a gentler time. When the husband is finally released, his mother has already passed away, but the love he and his wife share is shown. The role of the mother-in-law was played, at the request of the director, by octogenarian Lili Darvas, the wife of the famous Hungarian playwright and novelist Ferenc Molnar (1878-1952). ~ Clarke Fountain, Rovi

Just before closing time, a food store is entered by two official-looking men. They convince the owners they are controllers and must check on the goods for a government report. The owners leave and the men spend the night engaged in grotesque situation-comedy before leaving with the money in the morning. ~ Dan Pavlides, Rovi

This feature deals with the political upheaval that plagued Hungary during the 1920s. When an inept Army Captain is sent to quell a provincial rebellion, he is unaware that he is being phased out by the current power structure. Once the communist regime is in place, they no longer require his services. This political satire is taken from true stories of actual diaries that commented on the turbulent social changes of the times. ~ Dan Pavlides, Rovi

A young female student and her artist boyfriend rent a summer place, a building in an old concentration camp. A veteran doctor decides to join them to share expenses. The camp turns out to be the very one the doctor spent time in during the 1950s. While the woman attends to her studies, her boyfriend has a hard time getting started on his paintings. The young artist becomes jealous when the girl is enamored with the doctor, causing friction between the three. The characters, despite the conflicts, are dedicated to remaining in their newfound dwelling. ~ Dan Pavlides, Rovi

Kati Kabaok (Eva Ruttkay) gave up her acting career to marry an actor. After ten years of marriage, she is offered a leading role in a stage play and her performance is met with rave reviews. The majority of the film is told in flashbacks as Kati recalls the ups and downs of her marriage and homelife. The film style recalls some of the French comedies released in the 1960s. ~ Dan Pavlides, Rovi