Death Rode Out of Persia

The film with the most beautiful title this year – certainly in Hungarian – is based on the short autobiographical story by Péter Hajnóczy (1942-1981), who died young. Previously, János Szász had already tackled a work by this alcoholic with self-destructive tendencies – if that is not a tautology – in Temetés/Funeral (1998). The story is about a writer who reaches the conclusion when leafing through his notes after three years of drunkenness that he must not only drink, but will also have to work, because otherwise in the future he’ll be forced to water down his wine… He prepares a spritzer for himself, drinks it filled with horror and starts: ‘Here in front of me, is this horrid blank sheet I have to fill.’ What follows is a classic film about delirium and a delirious film about creativity, authorship, drink and love. The writer (Melis) provides a commentary on his own story, which is about a relationship from his past. As a young man (Schneider), he had to choose between cigarettes and alcohol or the prudish girl (Verebes), who doesn’t want her lover to smoke or drink. Not even one…? Death Rode Out of Persia has a long history. Six years ago, Horváth made a 17-minute version that is still in the film. The feature is the first production by TT Films, the company owned by Béla Tarr, a friend of Horváth for many years, and who also played Petrina in his Sátantángó. (GT)

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