Cinema
The Upthrown Stone
Feldobott kő
Sándor Sára · 1969
Synopsis
Pásztor Balázs takes his school-leaving exams in 1949 and dreams of entering the Film School, but his father is imprisoned and the young man is turned down. Having become a surveyor, he hides the truth about his father and travels the country with the planning teams: surveys for a dam on the Tisza, preparation of an agricultural centre on the great plain, a worksite with Roma woodcutters. He befriends Iliasz, a Greek revolutionary and convinced communist, and his wife Irini, and gradually discovers what the regime does to men.
Context
The film is partly autobiographical: like its hero, Sára was barred from film studies because of his family, and he practised photography. He wrote the screenplay with Sándor Csoóri and Ferenc Kósa, and was his own cinematographer. Selected for the Cannes competition in 1968, the film could not be shown there, the festival having been interrupted by the events of May. It was released in Budapest on 17 April 1969, with Lajos Balázsovits in the leading role.
Who it is for
A coming-of-age story in black and white, where the image moves from painting to social photography; no French commercial release has been located.
Prizes and reception
Submitted by Hungary for the Oscar for Best Foreign Language Film without being nominated, it is regarded as a milestone of Hungarian cinema.
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