''Love'' () is a 1971 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. The drama of this kind is usually qualified with additional terms that specify its particular ...

directed by

Károly Makk Károly Makk (December 22, 1925 – August 30, 2017) was a Hungarian film director and screenwriter. Five of his films were nominated for the ''Palme d'Or'' at the Cannes Film Festival; however, he won lesser awards at Cannes and elsewhere. He w ...

. Based on two short stories by

Tibor Déry Tibor Déry (18 October 1894 in Budapest – 18 August 1977 in Budapest) was a Hungarian writer and poet. He also wrote under the names Tibor Dániel and Pál Verdes. György Lukács praised Dery as being "the greatest depicter of human b ...

, ''Szerelem'' (1956) and ''Két asszony'' (1962), it stars Lili Darvas and

Mari Törőcsik Mari Törőcsik (born Marián Törőcsik; 23 November 1935 – 16 April 2021) was a Hungarian stage and film actress. She appeared in more than 170 films from 1956 to 2020. She won the award for Best Actress at the 1976 Cannes Film Festiva ...

. The film was selected as the Hungarian entry for the Best Foreign Language Film at the

44th Academy Awards The 44th Academy Awards were presented April 10, 1972, at the Dorothy Chandler Pavilion in Los Angeles. The ceremonies were presided over by Helen Hayes, Alan King, Sammy Davis Jr., and Jack Lemmon. One of the highlights of the evening was o ...

, but was not accepted as a nominee. Today, ''Love'' is considered a classic of world cinema by critics including

Derek Malcolm Derek Elliston Michael Malcolm (12 May 1932 – 15 July 2023) was an English film critic and historian. Early life Derek Elliston Michael Malcolm was born on 12 May 1932. He was the son of Douglas Malcolm (died 1967) and Dorothy Vera (died 196 ...

and

Roger Ebert Roger Joseph Ebert ( ; June 18, 1942 – April 4, 2013) was an American Film criticism, film critic, film historian, journalist, essayist, screenwriter and author. He wrote for the ''Chicago Sun-Times'' from 1967 until his death in 2013. Eber ...

. The film was selected for screening as part of the Cannes Classics section at the

2016 Cannes Film Festival The 69th Cannes Film Festival took place from 11 to 22 May 2016. Australian filmmaker George Miller (filmmaker), George Miller was the president of the jury for the main competition. French actor Laurent Lafitte was the host for the opening and ...

. It was also chosen to be part of the New Budapest Twelve, a list of Hungarian films considered the best in 2000.

Plot

Cast

* Lili Darvas - Az öregasszony *

- Luca * Iván Darvas - János *

Erzsi Orsolya Erzsi Orsolya (1901–1984) was a Hungarian stage, film and television actress.Székely & Gajdó p.673-75 A character actress, she appeared regularly in supporting roles on screen from the mid-1930s onwards. Selected filmography * '' Be True Unt ...

- Irén *

László Mensáros László Mensáros (1926–1993) was a Hungarian film, stage and television actor.Cowie & Elley p.247 After making his film debut in ''Professor Hannibal'' (1956), he acted prolifically in films and television with over more than a hundred and fif ...

- Az orvos *

Tibor Bitskey Tibor Bitskey (20 September 1929 – 2 February 2015) was a Hungary, Hungarian television actor, television and film actor. Partial filmography * ''Föltámadott a tenger'' (1953) * ''A harag napja'' (1953) * ''Kiskrajcár'' (1953) - Madaras ...

- Feri (as Bitskei Tibor) * András Ambrus - Börtönőr *

József Almási József () is a Hungarian masculine given name. It is the Hungarian name equivalent to Joseph. Notable people bearing this name include: * József Bihari (1901–1981), Hungarian actor * József Bihari (1908–1997), Hungarian linguist * J ...

- Tanár *

Zoltán Bán Zoltán () is a Hungarian language, Hungarian masculine given name. The name days for this name are 8 March and 23 June in Hungary, and 7 April in Slovakia. "Zoli" is the short version of Zoltán. "Zoli" is commonly used. Zoltána is the feminine v ...

- Borbély * Éva Bányai - Feriék szolgálója *

Ágnes Dávid Agnes is a feminine given name derived from the Greek , meaning 'pure' or 'holy'. The name passed to Italian as , to French as , to Portuguese as , and to Spanish as . It is also written as "Agness". Inez is an English variant. The Greek name ...

- Feriék szolgálója *

Mária Garamszegi Mária is a Hungarian and Slovak form of Maria (given name) or Mary (given name). As of December 2020, Mária is the most common female given name in Slovakia. With over 193 thousands Slovak women bearing the name, it has a substantial lead over ...

- Feriék szolgálója *

Alíz Halda Alice is a feminine first name with roots in the French and German languages. Etymology Alice is a form of the Old French name ''Alis / Alys'' (older ''Alais''), short form of ''Adelais'', which is derived from the Old High German ''Adalhaidis'' ...

- Tanárnő *

Magda Horváth Magda Horváth is a Hungarian orienteering competitor. At the 1970 World Orienteering Championships in Friedrichroda she finished 19th in the ''individual event'', and received a silver medal in the ''relay A relay Electromechanical relay ...

- Kissné *

Nóra Káldi Nora, NORA, or Norah may refer to: * Nora (name), a feminine given name People with the surname * Arlind Nora (born 1980), Albanian footballer * Pierre Nora (1931–2025), French historian * Simon Nora (1921–2006), French politician Place ...

- Az öregasszony fiatalon (as Káldy Nóra)

Historical background

In 1953 after the death of Soviet premier

Joseph Stalin Joseph Vissarionovich Stalin (born Dzhugashvili; 5 March 1953) was a Soviet politician and revolutionary who led the Soviet Union from 1924 until Death and state funeral of Joseph Stalin, his death in 1953. He held power as General Secret ...

many arrested people were released in Hungary. In ''Love'', Makk tells the story of a young Hungarian woman whose husband has been arrested by the

secret police image:Putin-Stasi-Ausweis.png, 300px, Vladimir Putin's secret police identity card, issued by the East German Stasi while he was working as a Soviet KGB liaison officer from 1985 to 1989. Both organizations used similar forms of repression. Secre ...

, and who eases his mother's last months with the tale that her son is in America.

Reception

''Love'' won three prizes, including the Jury Prize at the

1971 Cannes Film Festival The 24th Cannes Film Festival took place from 12 to 27 May 1971. French actress Michèle Morgan served as jury president for the main competition. The ''Grand Prix du Festival International du Film'', then the fetival's main prize, was awarded ...

. It has also been acclaimed in recent years; Derek Malcolm ranked it one of ''

The Guardian ''The Guardian'' is a British daily newspaper. It was founded in Manchester in 1821 as ''The Manchester Guardian'' and changed its name in 1959, followed by a move to London. Along with its sister paper, ''The Guardian Weekly'', ''The Guardi ...

s 100 best films of the 20th century.

References

External links