Bibó Breviárium

Péter Forgács is one of the greatest masters in bringing to life forgotten or never-properly-examined old film material. In his case, found footage is never just found, but dug up outside the existing archives from personal possessions. Mainly with the aid of amateur material, Forgács has already rewritten many chapters from the dramatic 20th-century history of Hungary, and this film adds a beautiful and pungent chapter. The leitmotiv of the film is the life and work of the idiosyncratic political thinker and philosopher István Bibó. Quotes from his writings accompany the images that are partly taken from the estate of Bibó himself. As a politician, Bibó was in the middle of the tragedy of the Hungarian uprising of 1956 and afterwards he spent years in prison. His writings are not just political, but also philosophical and poetic, which makes them harmonise with the poetic adaptation of the old pictures by Forgács. Like an archaeologist, Forgács digs up stories and meanings from amateur material that is occasionally in a very bad condition. As befits every good archaeologist, he also discovers significant insights into affairs that seem to be irretrievably damaged or missing entirely. With a skilled hand, he fits together the fragments of film into an inescapable poetic essay about the reality of his country.