Agnes Csere Movies

Abused by her parents and dejected by her bleak existence in an impoverished village of the Zsil River Valley, a twelve year-old girl finds just how much worse things can get after determining that she would be better off on her own. Iska (Maria Varga) is a young girl who earns money for her family by scavenging for metal, coal, and other various valuables in the rubble surrounding her village. When Iska returns home empty-handed one day after unwisely bargaining with a buyer, her parents punish her with a sound thrashing. Though she hesitates at the thought of leaving her sick sister Rozsika (Rozsika Varga) behind, Iska furtively slips out of the family home to seek out a better life elsewhere. A short stay in the well-intended but woefully inadequate orphanage system does little to ease the frightened child's fears for the future, and though things begin to look up when Iska plans a seaside escape with friendly boy Marian (Marion Rusache) things soon take a turn for the worse when Iska is kidnapped by deviants who run a child prostitution ring. ~ Jason Buchanan, Rovi

Irony abounds in this Hungarian drama that chronicles the situation in the Balkans. The story begins in 1914 as Pal Utrius, an adolescent, is drafted into the military. Just before he leaves, he makes love to his sister. His letters to her provide the framework for his tumultuous inner thoughts. He can hardly bear the rough, rigorous military training. He gets out after an appendix operation. Unfortunately the medics used unsterilized instruments and he dies from infection. At the end of the film, the beginning of World War II is depicted. ~ Sandra Brennan, Rovi