The cinema of István Szabó
Subtitle: visions of Europe
By: John Cunningham
Series: Directors' cuts; Directors' cuts
Publisher: Columbia University Press
Published: 2014
Language: eng
Number of pages: 179
ISBN-13: 9780231171984; 9780231171991
Subjects: Criticism and interpretation; Motion picture producers and directors
Description: "István Szabó is one of Hungary's most celebrated and best-known film directors, and the only Hungarian to have won an Academy Award for Best Foreign Language Film, for Mephisto (1981). In a career spanning over five decades Szabó has relentlessly examined the place of the individual in European history, particularly those caught up in the turbulent events of Central Europe and his own native Hungary. His protagonists struggle to find a place for themselves, some meaning in their lives, security and a sense of being, against a background of two world wars (Colonel Redl, Confidence), the Holocaust (Sunshine), the Hungarian Uprising and the Cold War (Father, 25 Fireman's Street, Taking Sides). This is the first English-language study of all his feature films and uses material from interviews with Szabó and his collaborators. Also included are chapters on his formative years, including his time at the famous Budapest Film Academy and the relationship of the state to the film industry in Hungary"--Back cover.
Notes: Includes bibliographical references (pages 166-173), filmography (pages 152-165) and index.
Table of contents: title: Introduction : beginnings; title: Born into the storm; title: Growing up, film school and 1956; title: The early films; title: The 'Budapest' films; title: Tales from Mitteleuropa; title: New Europe, new Hungary, new problems; title: 'The man who comes from somewhere else is always suspect'; title: To go or stay?; title: Adaptations; title: The controversy surrounding the events of 1957 and after; title: Szabo, Hungarian cinema and the question of censorship : a note; title: Some conclusions.