Gabor Koncz Movies

Rasputin is a dramatization of the life story of one of the most intriguing figures in all history. A crude peasant from Siberia, Rasputin (Alan Rickman) was a self-styled charismatic holy man who traveled widely, openly engaging in drunkenness, sexual indulgences, and general debauchery. In the early part of the 20th century Rasputin made his way to the troubled Russian capital of St. Petersburg, a hotbed of political discontent due to widespread poverty under a repressive government. There Rasputin met Czarina Alexandra (Greta Scacchi), and the film focuses on how he exercised power over her and her loving husband, Czar Nicholas II (Ian McKellen), by virtue of his mystical ability to stop the bleeding of their hemophiliac son. But in a nation beset by internal and external problems, Rasputin's uncouth presence at the opulent imperial court, coupled with his scandalous antics around the capital, came to symbolize the weak leadership of the czar. The movie goes on to show the tragic consequences that resulted from this volatile situation. Originally made for cable television, the film features Emmy-winning performances by Rickman and Scacchi. ~ Rovi

Arnold Schwarzenegger plays a taciturn law-enforcement officer from Russia. James Belushi co-stars as a wise-lipped Chicago cop. Though they go together like caviar and White Castles, they are forced to team up to collar the Soviet Union's most notorious drug lord. Thus does director Walter Hill recycle his 48 Hours formula for another unlikely star team. Unfortunately, Red Heat isn't half as enjoyable as the earlier film, owing to a lack of rapport between the two leading men and an overall lack of inspiration infecting the whole project. The one notable aspect of Red Heat is that it was the first commercial American film to stage scenes in Moscow's Red Square. Watch for Laurence Fishburne (still billed as "Larry") in a secondary role. ~ Hal Erickson, Rovi

In this the third film about Lieutenant Otvos, writer and lead actor Istvan Bujtor has reprised his role as the gruff policeman in the Lake Balaton region of Hungary. In this story he is handling the case of a kidnapped German tourist, buried treasure, and a nasty band of criminals. ~ Eleanor Mannikka, Rovi

The brutality that preceded the 1956 protests in Hungary may have fanned the plot of this 1981 political drama. After a rather vicious soccer game, the coach of the losing team unleashes his rage against the umpire in a locker room fight that ends up with the umpire very dead, his head bashed against the inside of a toilet bowl. A journalist sees the bloody toilet bowl and hides it in a church belfry (yes), a place safe from accidental discovery. Meanwhile, the journalist writes an article that exposes much of the truth about the fight, and as a consquence of that unadvisedly rash action he is thrown in jail - perhaps for longer than he realizes as the political higher-ups are not too interested in getting to the bottom of things. Before the film ends, there is yet another murder - and the fate of the journalist, not to mention the truth, lies in the balance. ~ Eleanor Mannikka, Rovi

Hungarian Rhapsody (Magyar Rapszodia) is the first chapter of director Miklos Jancso's two-part dramatized history of Hungary, from the turn of the century, to World War II. The story is told from the vantage point of Gyorgy Cserhalmi, the son of a wealthy landowner. During World War I, Cserhalmi is instrumental in quelling an army mutiny. Upon realizing that he has been responsible for the deaths of several peasant conscripts, Cserhalmi vows to be a "man of the people" when hostilities cease. He joins a communist cell, but finds he is woefully out of place. Throughout the 1920s and 1930s, Cserhalmi's political viewpoint is governed almost exclusively by his vacillating emotions. The film is enhanced with a "Russian Roulette" leitmotif, not unlike the fatalistic throughline of Michael Cimino's The Deer Hunter. Director Jancso followed Hungarian Rhapsody with Allegro Barbaro; both films were originally released in tandem, then redistributed as separate features. ~ Hal Erickson, Rovi

The story of Istvan (Gyorgy Cserhalmi) which began in the first film of a projected trilogy by director Miklos Jancso, Magyar Rapszodia, is continued here in Allegro Barbaro. The trilogy was intended to tell the story of Hungary from 1900 to shortly after World War II. The first film ended shortly after the conclusion of World War I, as Istvan was beginning to rethink his allegiance to the landowning class of his father and coming to espouse the peasants' cause. As Allegro Barbaro opens, Istvan has joined forces with the peasants, and in a scene recapitulating the one which opens the first film, a celebration is underway. However, this time, it is composed exclusively of peasants. As the story proceeds, it is clear that Istvan is actively working with the peasants against his family and his class. By 1944, Endre Bajcscy-Zsilinszk, the man whose life this story is based on, was executed for plotting to kill Hitler. The two films, Magyar Rapszodia and Allegro Barbaro were the most expensive films made in Hungary up to that time and were poorly received by critics as well as the viewing public; perhaps the density of the symbolic imagery in them (a Jancso trademark) detracted from the storytelling. Because of the poor critical and public reception to the first two films, Jancso never made the third one. ~ Clarke Fountain, Rovi

In the aftermath of World War I, a teacher (Benedek Toth) and his brother Simon (Frantisek Velecky) are sought by two rival factions. Simon is a priest, and his brother is thought to be the local Communist leader. A secretary to a powerful bishop searches for the two men. Terrorists wish to capture them both, but the local peasants hide the two fugitives. A Fascist movement group battles the terrorists in a fight for the two brothers since both are considered a political and social threat to the rival factions in this tragic drama of post war turmoil. ~ Dan Pavlides, Rovi

Gabi (Mari Torocsik) is a divorced mother with a young child who decides to choose which man is right for her in this sentimental drama. Her two prospects are an unwanted suitor and a young man who is ambivalent about their future. ~ Dan Pavlides, Rovi

This age-old story finds a young man from the country coming to the big city for a better life. He enters the university and finds love with a pretty classmate, but he rejects her when he discovers she is having an ongoing affair with another man. The young man tries to help a friend who has been railroaded into prison by a corrupt and unjust system. Political references are decidedly anti-Stalinist. ~ Dan Pavlides, Rovi

Andras Kovacs, a leading light of the new Hungarian cinema, brought his "docudrama" technique to his 1966 film Cold Days. The story deals with the systematic slaughter of Jews and Serbians by Hungarian fascists during World War II. Kovacs is not quite a revisionist historian, but he does cast doubt on the "official" interpretations of this horrible human-rights violation. Nor is the audience allowed to slip into complacency: it comes as a shock to discover that many of the characters whom we're rooting for turn out to be the villains! Both written and directed by Kovacs, Cold Days was originally released as Hideg Napok. ~ Hal Erickson, Rovi