Hungarian cinema has often been forced to tread a precarious and
difficult path. Through the failed 1919 revolution to the defeat of the
1956 Uprising and its aftermath, Hungarian film-makers and their
audiences have had to contend with a multiplicity of problems. In the
1960s, however, Hungary entered into a period of relative stability and
increasing cultural relaxation, resulting in an astonishing growth of
film-making. Innovative and groundbreaking directors such as Miklós
Jancsó (Hungarian Rhapsody, The Red and the White), István Szabó
(Mephisto, Sunshine) and Márta Mészaros (Little Vilma: The Last
Diary) emerged and established the reputation of Hungarian films on a
global basis. This is the first book to discuss all major aspects of
Hungarian cinema, including avant-garde, animation, and representations
of the Gypsy and Jewish minorities.