In the extensive restoration program of Hungarian film heritage led by the National Film Institute of Hungary (NFI), the films of these two filmmakers stand out for their uniqueness. After a few formidable offerings inspired by cinéma vérité, the former turned to a type of cinema influenced by American westerns, to the point of becoming the leader of a subgenre: the Goulash Western. The latter made a handful of magnificent experimental films and a masterpiece: Sinbad.
Faced with death, Sindbad looks back on his life. Old photos and letters evoke past loves and short-lived passions. In these rambling memories, he recalls past moments of pleasure in a woman’s smile or a magnificent lunch. The plastic world of remembering is demonstrated by the freely flowing visual images. This poetic vision made on the basis of the Sindbad short stories by Gyula Krúdy is a core work of Hungarian film. Zoltán Huszárik builds up a strange world from fragments of events, visual shards and subjective feelings. (National Film Institute Hungary)
Zoltán Huszárik
Zoltán Huszárik was a Hungarian film director and screenwriter. He graudated from the Hungarian School of Film and Theatrical Arts in Budapest in 1962. He exemplifies a trend in Hungarian cinema rooted in the pictorial arts. A painter and illustrator, he considered his films to be the culmination of his plastic art. His filmography also draws on deep-seated aspects of national tradition. Thus, his first short film, Elegy (1965), presents itself like a visual poem on the cycle of life and death of one of Hungary's ancient symbols: the horse. This work earned him international recognition. In Sinbad (1971), his first feature film, Huszárik brings back the main character from the works of the great Hungarian writer Gyula Krúdy and his quest for love. Csontváry (1980) is a moving tribute to the Hungarian naïve painter, Tivadar Kosztka Csontváry.
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