Friday March 11th
The Red and The White (Hungary, USSR) on dvd
Miklos Jancso's 1967 war film was the first to get wide distribution in North America and one of his best. It's set in Central Russia following the revolution, during the civil war that broke out between the Soviet reds and the Counter-revolutionary whites. Foreigners fought on both sides, including many Hungarians. Even though the film was co-produced by the USSR, the film was banned by the Party. There are no winners and no heroes in The Red and the White. Jancso's characteristically long takes are evident here, although not to the extent of 1969's Winter Sirocco's 13 shots. The action moves from a monastery being used as a garrison, to a hospital on the banks of the Volga river, to a final battle on a hillside that evidences Jancso's masterful utilization of wide frames. The Red and the White conveys with great economy, almost entirely in visual terms, the absurdity of war and the randomness of violence. Jancso's violent scenes are devoid of the kinetic, visceral pleasures that mar and negate other supposedly anti-war films. I sat two feet from the screen in total darkness to attempt to recreate the theatrical experience, because this film deserves to be seen there. Tamos Somlo did the b & w photography. The disc is letterboxed and enhanced for 16x9 TVs, but the print used is quite beat up.
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