Merry-Go-Round - Körhinta

Zoltán Fábri, HU, 1955, Mari Töröcsik, Imre Soós, Ádám Szirtes
BW ⁄ 95' ⁄ Ov St: SUBS: FR - NL

A village Romeo and Juliet story from the time of the production cooperatives, which has made a film star out of Mari Törőcsik and put Hungary back on the international film map.

Mari's (Mari Törőcsik) father (Béla Barsi) wants to marry her to Sándor Farkas (Ádám Szirtes), who is also an independent farmer, but she loves the bright-eyed boy working at the farm, Máté Bíró (Imre Soós). The young lovers defy the ancient rule of "land marries land" and try to live their love freely.

After nationalisation in 1948, the Communist Party put the film industry on manual control. The ministry decided on the subjects to be covered in films, and Mátyás Rákosi himself often had a hand in the scripts. It was not possible to deviate from the agreed script, so most of the films made were visually poor propaganda products.

It was in this stale air that Merry-Go-Round exploded, bringing back to Hungarian cinema the evidence that film is a visual art. Fábri's poetic montages, with their explosive dramaturgy, had a revolutionary impact and inspired many Hungarian directors. Although Merry-Go-Round also faithfully conveyed the communist directive, the not exactly Shakespearean dilemma of "to quit or to stay in the production collective” was rendered weightless by the rebellion of the lovers, played by 21-year-old Mari Törőcsik and the Hungarian James Dean, Imre Soós. A milestone and a memento of their careers, Merry-Go-Round instantly made Törőcsik a nationally known actress, and brought a dignified end to the career of Imre Soós, who committed suicide a year and a half after its release.