The Trial of Martinovics and the Hungarian Jacobins

  • 127'
  • Hungary
  • 1981

Ignác Martinovics (1755-95) was a curious figure in Hungarian history: a member of the Franciscan order, ordained priest, academic in natural sciences, as well as a revolutionary, secret agent, agitator and organiser. During the reign of Emperor Leopold II, a true child of the Enlightenment, he worked for the State to further the cause of progressive change; while during the reign of his successor, Francis II, he was involved in secret activities aimed at protecting those reforms. By 1794, Martinovics found himself caught in a web of too many schemes and secret societies – ending in his arrest, trial and execution as an enemy of the crown.

For this austere, clear and sharp telefeature, Judit Elek focused on the last months of Martinovics’ life: his interrogation by the Austrians, the examining Magistrate Schilling in particular, shown as a battle of wits as well as delusions – on both sides. Elek had wanted to make this film in the early 1970s, but wasn’t allowed to. When she finally got the chance, the reactions were predictable, as the parallels with recent Hungarian history were simply too obvious for officialdom not to feel anxious. History may not repeat itself, but the variations look eerily similar...

 

Olaf Möller

  • 127'
  • Hungary
  • 1981
Director
Judit Elek
Country of production
Hungary
Year
1981
Festival Edition
IFFR 2023
Length
127'
Medium
Digital
Original title
Vizsgálat Martinovics Ignác szászvári apát és társai ügyében
Language
Hungarian
Producer
András Elek
Production Company
Magyar Televízió
Sales
MTVA
Screenplay
Judit Elek
Cinematography
János Illés
Editor
Katalin Kabdebó
Production Design
László Rajk
Sound Design
István Nagy Molnár
Cast
János Ács, Tamás Fodor, Gábor Deme, Erzsébet Gaál, Miklós Székely B.
Director
Judit Elek
Country of production
Hungary
Year
1981
Festival Edition
IFFR 2023
Length
127'
Medium
Digital
Original title
Vizsgálat Martinovics Ignác szászvári apát és társai ügyében
Language
Hungarian
Producer
András Elek
Production Company
Magyar Televízió
Sales
MTVA
Screenplay
Judit Elek
Cinematography
János Illés
Editor
Katalin Kabdebó
Production Design
László Rajk
Sound Design
István Nagy Molnár
Cast
János Ács, Tamás Fodor, Gábor Deme, Erzsébet Gaál, Miklós Székely B.

Programme IFFR 2023

Focus: Judit Elek

Judit Elek (1937) is among world cinema’s most uncompromising figures. Beloved by IFFR founder Huub Bals, yet to this day little known in wider circles, Elek made both fiction and documentary films that are almost brutally personal, reflecting as much the history of her native Hungary as her own trauma-riddled life. International Film Festival Rotterdam is honoured to present the most complete retrospective so far of an auteur whose works and wisdom are needed today as urgently as ever.

Read more about this programme