The Round-Up (1966)

This film is also showing at our sister cinema, Ritz Cinemas

Australian Premiere - 4K Restoration

‘An absolute masterpiece of still-innovative, formally challenging political cinema.’ – Hamish Ford, Senses of Cinema

In the barren landscape of the Hungarian steppe, a large group of men and women live out their days in an open-air prison, accused of having participated in the Hungarian uprising of 1848. When the Austrian guards hear rumours that the legendary bandit and revolutionary hero Sándor Rósza may be hiding out in the camp, they launch a campaign of interrogation, and the prisoners become pitted against one another in the hope of saving their own skins.

Miklós Jancsó’s first feature to receive major international recognition, The Round-Up offers his first of many stylised representations of the past comprising movements of bodies through the frame. Taking advantage of the tonal depths of Tamás Somló’s black-and-white widescreen cinematography, his camera dances through complex set pieces that are both beautifully choreographed and, in their bleak testament to the absurdity of authoritarianism, devoid of romanticism.

Introduced by Nicky Hannan at Ritz Cinemas and Cerise Howard at Lido Cinemas.

Rating

Unclassified 18+

Duration

90 min

Country

Hungary

Language

Hungarian (English subtitles)

Cast

János Görbe, Zoltán Latinovits, Tibor Molnár, Gábor Agárdi, András Kozák, Béla Barsi

Director

Miklós Jancsó