Tuesday, July 12, 2011

Merry-Go-Round (1956)

Merry-Go-Round / Körhinta (1956)
Merry-Go-Round / Körhinta (1956)


Genre: Drama
Director: Zoltán Fábri
Starring: Mari Töröcsik, Imre Soós, Ádám Szirtes, Béla Barsi
Duration: 90 min.
Rating: 7.9

Summary:
In a rural scenery in the throes of difficult changes lives a humble but promising young farmer girl called Mari Pataki. Her father forbids her from seeing the man she loves. The father, above all preoccupied by work on the fields and prospective wealth, decides to give his daughter in marriage to an old but rich man with whom he does business. “Land marries land”, he says. This seems to be the unyielding rule of the Hungarian peasantry. But the young lover is ready to stand up to any challenge to keep Mari’s love.



Merry-Go-Round is a Hungarian film directed by Zoltán Fábri, based on a short story by Imre Sarkadi.  It premiered at the 1956 Cannes Film Festival and was selected as one of the Budapest 12 by Hungarian critics in 2000.

A communist propaganda piece in the guise of both a fascinating look at rural peasant life and a straight forward love story, Merry-Go-Round is historically significant because it was released shortly before the country's failed uprising and revolution against Soviet imposed rule in 1956. 

The central characters in the story Mari (Mari Töröcsik) and Mate (Imre Soós) are in love, but politics keep them apart.  Mari's father Istvan (Béla Barsi) forbids them from being together because he disagrees with the farming co-operative, which Mate is a member of.  Preferring to own and tend to his own land, Istvan enters a partnership deal with another land owner, Sandor (Ádám Szirtes) in return for Mari's hand in marriage.

While watching this film there are two things about this film that stand out, the first is Mari Töröcsik, who is strikingly beautiful and delivers an amazing performance.  She is effortlessly able to convey youthful innocence, wonder, anguish, joy and everything in between with just a look; and the camera often captures these expressions with Dreyer like tight close-up shots of her face. 

The second is the recurring theme of merry-go-rounds.  The film opens in the midst of a carnival where we see the young lovers enjoying a ride together, escaping for a temporary moment of happiness before they have to return to sad reality.  Then later in the pivotal scene of the film, one that takes place at a local wedding.   The lovers dance while a folk band plays, and the world around them seems to fade away.  However, in reality they are soon the only couple on the dance floor and the whole village, including Mari's husband to be, is staring at them while they dance away.  The furious editing, interspersing scenes of their previous carnival ride with their dance, accentuated by the incredible sound of their feet as they spin to the music, builds a wonderful tension that words can't describe, just an incredibly directed and memorable sequence.

The story is rather predictable and offers nothing new, and the socialist undertones may turn some away but this is still a very enjoyable picture.  Much credit to the director Fábri for recognizing and bringing out the talent in his young star, and also for the aforementioned dance scene. 

Merry-Go-Round / Körhinta (1956)

Merry-Go-Round / Körhinta (1956)

Merry-Go-Round / Körhinta (1956)

Merry-Go-Round / Körhinta (1956)

Merry-Go-Round / Körhinta (1956)

Merry-Go-Round / Körhinta (1956)

Merry-Go-Round / Körhinta (1956)

Merry-Go-Round / Körhinta (1956)

6 comments:

Hoi-Ming Ng said...

I would not say she was 'strikingly beautiful' though

Bonjour Tristesse said...

LOL. This would be a zero on all your scales.

Bonjour Tristesse said...

It's definitely not an exciting film, but it does have it's moments and is my favorite of the marathon so far.

Beasts in Human Skin said...

So what's the booby rating? 

d_4 said...

I don't know if I'm with The Lurker or not. It seems like it has its interesting points, but I'm also afraid it might lull me. This is just by what I can see.

The Angry Lurker said...

Thanks for that but I don't know if I could do this one.

Post a Comment