''The Tyrant's Heart'' ( hu, A zsarnok szíve, avagy Boccaccio Magyarországon) is a 1981 Hungarian
drama film
In film and television, drama is a category or genre of narrative fiction (or semi-fiction) intended to be more serious than humorous in tone. Drama of this kind is usually qualified with additional terms that specify its particular super ...
written by
Gyula Hernádi
Gyula Hernádi (23 August 1926 – 20 July 2005) was a Hungarian writer and screenwriter. He wrote for 36 films between 1965 and 2005, mostly for director Miklós Jancsó. He also wrote many novels, mostly surrealistic science fiction or h ...
and directed by
Miklós Jancsó
Miklós Jancsó (; 27 September 192131 January 2014) was a Hungarian film director and screenwriter.
Jancsó achieved international prominence starting in the mid-1960s with works including '' The Round-Up'' (''Szegénylegények'', 1965), '' ...
.
The film was entered into the main competition at the
38th edition of the
Venice Film Festival
The Venice Film Festival or Venice International Film Festival ( it, Mostra Internazionale d'Arte Cinematografica della Biennale di Venezia, "International Exhibition of Cinematographic Art of the Venice Biennale") is an annual film festival h ...
.
[Adriano Aprà, Giuseppe Ghigi, Patrizia Pistagnesi. ''Cinquant'anni di cinema a Venezia''. La Biennale di Venezia, 1982. .]
Plot
Reception
"This Renaissance fantasy uses wind machines, conveyor belts, masks, duck-shape codpieces, occasional tomtom accompaniment and a bear's cage decorated with origami birds. It also employs an abundance of mime, which is a good many people's least favorite performing art.
This arsenal of tactics is all in the service of the tale of a returning young Hungarian King who has Italian friends, Turkish enemies and an alleged 'mother,' who looks younger than he. What is her secret? She is suspected of sacrificing a different young woman each day so as to maintain her looks. Quite a beauty secret.
'The Tyrant's Heart,' which has as much the feeling of a sideshow as of the tone poem Mr. Jancso apparently intends, has become almost unbearably precious well before one character turns to the camera and says, of another player, 'He's only an actor; don't kill him.' Not even the naked nymphs, of whom there are quite a few, can save it from being dull." - New York Times review (October 4, 1982)
Cast
*
Teresa Ann Savoy as Katalin
*
László Gálffi as Gáspár
*
József Madaras
József Madaras (16 August 1937 – 24 April 2007) was a Hungarian film actor. He appeared in more than 80 films between 1958 and 2006.
Selected filmography
* ''Tales of a Long Journey'' (1963)
* '' The Round-Up'' (1965)
* '' The Red and ...
as Károly
*
Ninetto Davoli
Giovanni "Ninetto" Davoli (born 11 October 1948) is an Italian actor who became known through his roles in several of Pier Paolo Pasolini's films.
Biography
Davoli was born in San Pietro a Maida, Calabria. He was discovered by poet, novelist ...
as Filippo
* Géza D. Hegedüs as Csuhás
*
György Cserhalmi
György Cserhalmi (born 17 February 1948, in Budapest) is a Hungarian actor. He graduated from the Actors Academy in 1971. He is also the founder of the Labdater Theatre in the Globe cultural centre.
Employment
*1971: Debrecen Csokonai Theat ...
as Ferhád Pasha
References
External links
*
1981 drama films
1981 films
Films directed by Miklós Jancsó
Hungarian drama films
1980s Hungarian-language films
{{Hungary-film-stub