Hungary, 1955 / 1963 / 1970
Length / Features: 96 / 86 / 88 minutes
Length / Special features: 92 minutes
2.0 Dual Mono LPCM (48k/16-bit)
Black and white / Colour
Original aspect ratios: 1.37:1 /
1:85:1 / 1.66:1
Language: Hungarian
Subtitles: English
Blu-Ray: BD50 / BD25 / 1080p
Region ABC (Region Free)
Blu-Ray RRP: £39.99
Release Date: 13 December 2021
Second Run BD046
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Second Run presents a selection of essential works by three of Hungarian cinema's most renowned filmmakers. This special limited edition box set contains these celebrated films from stunning new 4K restorations and are being released for the first time ever on Blu-ray.
The set includes Zoltán Fábri’s Merry-Go-Round (Körhinta, 1955); István Gaál’s Current (Sodrásban, 1963) and Miklós Jancsó’s Agnus Dei (Égi bárány, 1970).
Merry-Go-Round (Körhinta)
One of the finest films in Hungarian cinema, Zoltán Fábri’s rich and beautiful work is a powerful love story set in 1950s rural Hungary.
In her dazzling debut performance, the late, great Mari Törocsik plays an independent-minded young girl who falls for a farm worker but is betrothed against her will to a wealthy man.
Current (Sodrásban)
A group of friends on the cusp of adulthood gather to spend a carefree day by the riverside. When one of them goes missing, a frantic search begins. Often cited as the first film of the Hungarian New Wave, Gaál’s haunting existential drama announced the arrival of a new generation in Hungarian cinema.
Agnus Dei (Égi bárány)
Miklós Jancsó’s symbolic re-enactment of Hungary’s 1919 revolution and its suppression is a virtuoso display of cinematic skill, turning history into a mythic struggle. The film explores political upheaval, oppression and the complicity of the Church, in this chilling and potent allegory of the rise of fascism in Hungary.
Presented from new 4K restorations, our world premiere, region-free Blu-ray Limited Edition Box Set showcases each film which are accompanied with essential extras and individual booklets with new writing on all three films by Hungarian cinema specialists John Cunningham, Peter Hames and Tony Rayns.
• Merry-Go-Round (Körhinta), Current (Sodrásban), and Agnus Dei (Égi bárány) - all three films presented from new 4K restorations by the National Film Institute Hungary – Film Archive.
• Award-winning Hungarian filmmaker István Szabó on the influence and cinematic legacy of director Zoltán Fábri.
• An archival interview with Miklós Jancsó (1987).
• Tisza - Autumn Sketches (Tisza - Őszi vázlatok, 1962):
director István Gaál’s acclaimed short film observing autumn descend along the river Tisza.
• A new filmed appreciation of Current by producer/curator Gareth Evans.
• Merry-Go-Round 1955 screen tests.
• A film on the history and restoration of Merry-Go-Round.
• Trailers.
• Individual booklets with new writing on each film by authors and Hungarian cinema specialists John Cunningham, Peter Hames and Tony Rayns.
• New and improved English subtitle translations.
• World premieres on Blu-ray.
• Region-free Blu-rays (A/B/C).
Other classics of Hungarian and international cinema,
including several works by Miklós Jancsó,
also availble on Second Run
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MERRY-GO-ROUND
Voted by international critics as one of the ‘10 Best Hungarian Films of All Time’
“The heroine of Zoltán Fábri’s marvellous film should have the prize for the Best Actress... This is the big prize winner.
This is my Palme d’Or.” François Truffaut, Cannes 1956
“It resounds with love” Jean Cocteau
“Merry-Go-Round is the pinnacle of Hungarian cinema”
István Szábo
CURRENT
Voted by international critics as one of the ‘10 Best Hungarian Films of All Time’
“A film of freshness and poetry in an unmistakably modern tone” Pier Paolo Pasolini
“A great poetic movie of the Hungarian revival about youth and the transition to adulthood” Festival Lumiere
“One of the most expressive films ever made about youth” International Film Guide
AGNUS DEI
“Jancsó’s most enigmatic film… a deeply mysterious and symbolic drama” The Cinema of Miklós Jancsó
“[Jancsó] has shown himself at the very forefront of international cinema... photographed by probably the most choreographic camera at work anywhere” Village Voice
