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Everything may change when there is real occupation. That story began on August 12, 1945, at 11 am, when two mysterious strangers dressed in black appeared at the railway station in a Hungarian village, whose appearance might be strange and mysterious. At that time, the small villagers were preparing for a big wedding for the writer's son, but the former bridegroom's fiancé returned from captivity suddenly without introductions. A man may face a new kind of life, where everything will change within a few hours.
This film adds to a growing list of Holocaust dramas and documentaries that move past the guilt of Nazi Germany to ponder the complicity of smaller communities in eastern Europe.
The darkness of wartime reaches not only into one day in August. In this muted but powerful film, Török is also commenting, obliquely but effectively, on the rise of far-right nationalism and anti-Semitism in present-day Hungary.
It's a good bet that the director had High Noon in mind when he made this film, but the comparison ends there. As a compact study of wartime guilt, the film has the look and feel of a waking nightmare.
Marvellously directed and acted, 1945 shows how those who practice deception for their own ends are likely to pay the price and in ways they may not foresee.
Features an intrusive sound design, including Tibor Szemzö's jarringly contemporary score and sound effects that include the ringing of a clock tower, buzzing flies, rumbling thunder and noisy birds...
Torok juggles plenty of characters and themes - guilt, greed, Russian meddling, the Holocaust, justice - but he always remains firmly in control of his story. Every frame is meticulously crafted.
The film's straightforward but effective narrative holds few surprises while the talented cast strengthens the storytelling especially Péter Rudolf who makes a smooth transition from comedy to drama.
Set in a specific time and place, 1945 also resonates as a story of people doing terrible things to other people in the name of opportunity and getting ahead. It hits home at a time when the idea of loving thy neighbor feels sadly passé.