Love (1971 film)

Love
Love
Directed by	Károly Makk
Written by	Péter Bacsó
Based on	Szerelem (1956); Két asszony(1962); novels; by Tibor Déry
Starring	Lili Darvas; Mari Törőcsik
Cinematography	János Tóth
Edited by	György Sívó
Music by	András Mihály
Distributed by	Ajay Film Company (USA)
Release date	21 January 1971;
Running time	84 minutes
Country	Hungary
Language	Hungarian

Love (Hungarian: Szerelem) is a 1971 Hungarian drama film directed by Károly Makk. Based on two short stories by Tibor Déry, Szerelem (1956) and Két asszony (1962), it stars Lili Darvas and Mari Törőcsik. The film was selected as the Hungarian entry for the Best Foreign Language Film at the 44th Academy Awards, but was not accepted as a nominee.^[1]

Today, Love is considered a classic of world cinema by critics including Derek Malcolm and Roger Ebert. The film was selected for screening as part of the Cannes Classics section at the 2016 Cannes Film Festival.^[2] It was also chosen to be part of the New Budapest Twelve, a list of Hungarian films considered the best in 2000.^[3]

Plot

Cast

Lili Darvas - Az öregasszony
Mari Törőcsik - Luca
Iván Darvas - János
Erzsi Orsolya - Irén
László Mensáros - Az orvos
Tibor Bitskey - Feri (as Bitskei Tibor)
András Ambrus - Börtönőr
József Almási - Tanár
Zoltán Bán - Borbély
Éva Bányai - Feriék szolgálója
Ágnes Dávid - Feriék szolgálója
Mária Garamszegi - Feriék szolgálója
Alíz Halda - Tanárnő
Magda Horváth - Kissné
Nóra Káldi - Az öregasszony fiatalon (as Káldy Nóra)

Historical background

In 1953 after the death of Soviet premier Joseph Stalin 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, 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.^[4] It has also been acclaimed in recent years; Derek Malcolm ranked it one of The Guardian's 100 best films of the 20th century.

References

^ Margaret Herrick Library, Academy of Motion Picture Arts and Sciences
^ "Cannes Classics 2016". Cannes Film Festival. 20 April 2016. Retrieved 21 April 2016.
^ "Új Budapesti Tizenkettő". Filmvilág. XLIII (3): 2. March 2000.
^ "Festival de Cannes: Love". festival-cannes.com. Retrieved 2009-04-12.