Miklós Jancsó facts for kids
Quick facts for kids
Miklós Jancsó
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Jancsó at his home, 2000
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| Born | 27 September 1921 Vác, Kingdom of Hungary
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| Died | 31 January 2014 (aged 92) |
| Occupation | Film director, screenwriter, producer, actor |
| Years active | 1950–2014 |
| Spouse(s) | Katalin Wowesznyi (1949–1958) Márta Mészáros (1958–1968) Zsuzsa Csákány (1981–2014; his death) |
Miklós Jancsó (born September 27, 1921 – died January 31, 2014) was a famous Hungarian film director and writer. He became well-known around the world in the mid-1960s.
Some of his most famous movies include The Round-Up (1965), The Red and the White (1967), and Red Psalm (1971). Jancsó's films are known for their unique visual style. They often feature long, continuous shots and are set in historical times, often in the countryside. A common topic in his movies is how power can be misused. His films often commented on life in Hungary during the time of Communism and Soviet control.
Contents
Early life and education
Miklós Jancsó was born to a Hungarian father and a Romanian mother. After finishing school, he studied law in Pécs and Cluj. He also took classes in art history and how different cultures live.
Jancsó fought in World War II and was a prisoner for a short time. After the war, he decided not to become a lawyer. Instead, he went to the Academy of Theatre and Film Arts in Budapest. He finished his film directing studies in 1950. Around this time, he started working on newsreels, which are short films about current events. He filmed things like celebrations and visits from important people.
Film career highlights
Starting out in the 1950s
Jancsó began directing films in 1954, mostly making short documentaries. These early films helped him learn how to make movies. They also allowed him to travel around Hungary and see what was happening in the country.
In 1958, he made his first full-length movie, The Bells Have Gone to Rome. This film was about Hungarian schoolboys who were forced to join the Nazi German army. They were supposed to fight against the Russians. As the boys learned more about the Nazi government, they decided to refuse the offer. Jancsó later said he didn't think much of this early work.
After this, Jancsó went back to making documentaries. He also started working with Hungarian writer Gyula Hernádi in 1959. Hernádi worked on many of Jancsó's films until he passed away in 2005.
Breakthrough in the 1960s
Jancsó's next important movie was Cantata in 1962. It was about a young doctor from a simple background. He grew tired of his busy life in Budapest and decided to visit his childhood home in the Hungarian countryside. There, he remembered his connection to nature and his past. The film got mixed reviews but won an award in Hungary.
In 1964, Jancsó released My Way Home. This was his first movie with writer Gyula Hernádi. It tells the story of Jozak, a young Hungarian soldier who leaves the army at the end of World War II. He is captured by the Red Army and becomes friends with a young Russian soldier. Even though they speak different languages, they play games like children. The Russian soldier eventually dies, and Jozak continues his journey home.
His next film, The Round-Up (1965), was a huge success both in Hungary and around the world. Many people consider it a very important film. It takes place after a failed Hungarian uprising against Austrian rule in 1848. The film shows how authorities tried to find and punish those who took part in the rebellion. The Round-Up was filmed in black and white and is known for its setting in the Hungarian countryside, called the puszta.
The Round-Up was shown at the 1966 Cannes Film Festival and became very popular internationally. A Hungarian film critic called it "perhaps the best Hungarian film ever made." Over a million people in Hungary watched the film.
Jancsó's next work was The Red and the White (1967). This film was made with both Hungarian and Soviet filmmakers. It was meant to celebrate the 50th anniversary of the Russian Revolution. However, Jancsó made a film that showed how pointless and cruel war can be. The movie was set during the Russian Civil War.
The Red and the White was a big international success for Jancsó. It received praise in Europe and the United States. It won the Best Foreign Film award from French film critics.
In 1968, Jancsó made Silence and Cry. This film is about a young revolutionary who hides in the countryside after a failed uprising. He is hidden by a farmer, but the farmer is constantly bothered by the White Army. The farmer's wife is attracted to the revolutionary and tries to poison her husband. The revolutionary feels he must tell the White Army about her actions.
Also in 1968, Jancsó made his first color film, The Confrontation (1969). This movie was the first to use songs and dances as a key part of the story. These elements became more important in his later films. The film is about real events when Hungary tried to change its education system after the Communists came to power. It shows students trying to convince others to join their cause, which sometimes leads to violence.
Jancsó finished the 1960s with Sirokkó (Winter Wind) in 1969. This film was about a group of anarchists in the 1930s who planned to kill King Alexander I of Yugoslavia.
Changing style in the 1970s
In the late 1960s and especially in the 1970s, Jancsó's films became more symbolic. His shots became even longer, and the camera movements were very carefully planned. For example, his film Elektreia (1974) has only 12 shots in 70 minutes! This very artistic style was most praised in Red Psalm (1971). This film won Jancsó the Best Director award at the Cannes Film Festival in 1972. Like The Round-Up, Red Psalm is about an uprising that doesn't succeed.
In the later 1970s, Jancsó started a big film series called Vitam et sanguinem. However, only the first two films, Hungarian Rhapsody (1978) and Allegro Barbaro (1978), were made. These films were the most expensive ever made in Hungary at the time. During the 1970s, Jancsó also spent time in Italy and made some films there. The most known is Private Vices, Public Virtues (1975).
Later works: 1980s, 1990s, and 2000s
Jancsó's films in the 1980s were not very popular at first. Some critics said he was just repeating ideas from his earlier movies. However, more recently, people have looked at these films again. Some now think they are very important.
The Tyrant's Heart (1981) is a film that connects his older historical movies with his newer, more playful ones. It's set in a 15th-century palace in Hungary. The film plays with the audience's idea of reality, often contradicting itself.
His 1985 film Dawn was shown at the 36th Berlin International Film Festival. In 1987, he was a judge at the 15th Moscow International Film Festival.
Later in the 1980s, Jancsó stopped setting his films in the countryside. He started making movies in modern Budapest. Season of Monsters (1986) was his first film with scenes in modern Budapest in 23 years. This film introduced new visual ideas, like showing TV screens with clips from other parts of the movie. Critics had mixed feelings about these films at the time.
His 1989 film Jesus Christ's Horoscope was shown at the 16th Moscow International Film Festival.
In the early 1990s, Jancsó made two more films, God Walks Backwards (1990) and Blue Danube Waltz (1991). These films continued his style from the 1980s. They also explored the power struggles in Hungary after Communism ended.
After a long break, Jancsó returned with The Lord's Lantern in Budapest (1999). This film was a surprising success for him. It tells the story of two gravediggers, Pepe and Kapa, trying to understand the changing world of post-Communist Budapest. The film was popular with young Hungarians.
In the late 1990s, Jancsó's career became popular again with a series of funny, low-budget films. These films were popular with a new generation of younger viewers. The success of The Lord's Lantern in Budapest led to more Pepe and Kapa films. These newer films often looked at historical events, like the Holocaust, but in a modern and often funny way. These movies are very popular with young film fans because of their modern style and dark humor. Jancsó also appeared in some films himself.
Besides full-length movies, Jancsó made many short films and documentaries. He also directed plays for the theater from 1971 into the 1980s. Miklós Jancsó was a special professor at the University of Theatre and Film Arts in Budapest. He also taught at Harvard University for a few years.
Political views
During the Communist era, some people criticized Jancsó's films. They said his films were too focused on style or Hungarian nationalism. From the 1990s onwards, Jancsó openly supported the Hungarian liberal party SZDSZ. He sometimes made comments that were seen as controversial, like his jokes about Hungary's history.
Personal life and passing
Miklós Jancsó married Katalin Wowesznyi in 1949. They had two children, Nyika and Babus. After they divorced, he married film director Márta Mészáros in 1958. In 1968, Jancsó met Italian journalist Giovanna Gagliardo. They moved to Rome, where he worked for almost ten years. In 1980, he separated from Gagliardo and married film editor Zsuzsa Csákány in 1981. They had a son named Dávid.
Miklós Jancsó passed away from lung cancer on January 31, 2014, at the age of 92. Fellow Hungarian director Béla Tarr called Jancsó "the greatest Hungarian film director of all time."
Awards and recognition
Miklós Jancsó was nominated five times for the Best Director Award at the Cannes Film Festival. He won the award for Red Psalm in 1972. In 1973, he received the important Kossuth Prize in Hungary. He also received awards for his life's work in 1979 at Cannes and in 1990 at the Venice Film Festival.
Filmography
Features
- The Bells Have Gone to Rome (1958)
- Cantata (1963)
- My Way Home (1965)
- The Round-Up (1966)
- The Red and the White (1967)
- Silence and Cry (1968)
- Decameron '69 (1969)
- The Confrontation (1969)
- Sirokkó (1969)
- The Pacifist (1970)
- Égi bárány (1971)
- La tecnica e il rito (TV movie, 1971)
- Red Psalm (1972)
- Roma rivuole Cesare (TV movie, 1974)
- Electra, My Love (1974)
- Private Vices, Public Virtues (1976)
- Hungarian Rhapsody (1978)
- Allegro barbaro (1979)
- The Tyrant's Heart (1981)
- Faustus doktor boldogságos pokoljárása (TV mini-series, 1984)
- Omega, Omega, Omega (TV movie, 1984)
- Dawn (1986)
- Season of Monsters (1987)
- Jesus Christ's Horoscope (1989)
- God Walks Backwards (1991)
- Blue Danube Waltz (1992)
- The Lord's Lantern in Budapest (1999)
- Mother! The Mosquitoes (2000)
- Last Supper at the Arabian Gray Horse (2001)
- Wake Up, Mate, Don't You Sleep (2002)
- A mohácsi vész (2004)
- Ede megevé ebédem (2006)
- So Much for Justice! (2010)
Images for kids
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Miklós Jancsó at a press screening of his movie, So Much for Justice!, February 1, 2010, Budapest
See also
In Spanish: Miklós Jancsó para niños
