The Red and the White (1967)

Recommended

Hungary/Soviet Union

Feature Film

Original Title: Csillagosok katonák

Director: Jancsó Miklós

Writers: Hernádi Gyula, Jancsó Miklós, Karall Luca, Valeri Karen, Giorgi Mdivani

Cinematographer: Somló Tamás

Cast: Madaras József, Molnár Tibor, Kozák András, Juhász Jácint, Anatoli Yabbarov, Sergey Nikonenko, Mikhail Kozakov, Bolot Bejshenaliyev, Tatiana Koniukova, Krystyna Mikolajewska

After the Marxist revolution of 1917, Russian and Hungarian communists (the Reds) battle against the remnants of the defeated Tsarists (the Whites) in a series of ramshackle skirmishes, which invariably result in the capture and execution of opposition soldiers and perceived collaborators, in Jancsó’s cold and distanced yet thoughtful and compelling examination of the futility and arbitrariness of war. Iain.Stott