For his role in the 1956 revolt he's sent to prison for several years. I knew the only way to find a meaning in my life would be to account for it. This generation of Hungarian filmmakers was shaped in large measure by the experience of Stalinism, including of course the crushing by Soviet forces of the 1956 revolution. Decisive in their ideological development, as was the case for artists throughout eastern Europe and the USSR, was the lack of serious contact with any left-wing critique of the bureaucracy. Viewings of recent Hungarian films suggest, in fact, that the directors are gloomier than ever.
All regimes promise happiness, but dreadful things have happened in that name.
Authority uses people. When it no longer needs them, it throws them away or destroys them. This enormous experience is only the experience of the twentieth century. The film is not subtle in conveying its central themes. And so forth.