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Imre Nagy |
One of the doyennes of Hungarian film deals with a dark
period of national history: the Soviet regime in Hungary.
She portrays it through the fate of the former prime
minister and national hero, Imre Nagy.
The life of Imre Nagy is one of the definitive stories of
20th century history. He was the first communist leader to
become the symbol of a national revolution, a prime
minister, a denouncer of the Warsaw Pact, and an advocate of
multiparty democracy. |
The film makes an attempt to throw light on the life of the martyr
prime minister from a different angle, and to present his story
through a subjective point of view, starting from the events of
1956, going on to his execution and finally the events subsequent to
his story until today.
When the Soviet troops began the siege of Budapest on the 4th November
1956, Imre Nagy and several members of his
 government
accepted the asylum offered to them by the Yugoslav Embassy. Then
they were lured out of the embassy by the offer of being given the
freedom to leave, only to be kidnapped and transported to Romania.
In
1957 Imre Nagy was taken back to Hungary. For fourteen months he
languished in prison under inhumane conditions, and subjected to
interrogations that sought to wring evidence out of him in order to
justify an insane charge of treason. Throughout the hearings and the
trial he consistently stood by his ideological and political
convictions.
He did not plead for clemency, hoping that coming generations would do
his memory justice.
Imre Nagy's last words:
"The only thing I'm frightened of is being
rehabilitated by those who betrayed me."
For 30 years, Nagy’s family knew nothing either of his whereabouts or
his grave. Only in 1989 was Nagy given a proper burial, which took
place in Budapest’s Heroes’ Square in the presence of 300,000
people. This burial is also considered the beginning of a new, and
finally free and democratic Hungary.
The script is based on the diary written by Imre Nagy, and the
memories of his daughter, Erzsébet Nagy, as well as authentic
documents and records.
Source: Consulate General
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