10 Years of Second Run: Yorgos Lanthimos selects and introduces The Red and the White (Csillagosok, katonák)

“If you've never encountered Jancsó’s work, you shouldn't miss this” Jonathan Rosenbaum
"A tour de force of a very special kind ... an astonishing director" The Guardian
"Miklós Jancsó... one of the great political film makers" The Village Voice

The film is introduced by Yorgos Lanthimos.

Set in 1919 during the brutal Civil War which raged in the aftermath of the Russian Revolution, this is a war film unlike any other. Hungarian volunteers supporting the Red revolutionaries fight a war of attrition against the White counter-revolutionaries who are seeking to restore the old Czarist order.

Virtuoso in style and technique, Jancsó invites us to study the mechanisms of conflict and power to produce a unique film portrait of the utter futility of war.

Yorgos Lanthimos explains his selection:

“The Red and The White was unlike anything I had seen before. A unique filmic language of humans moving around in this grand landscape, back and forth, again and again, killing, dying, hiding. The hunter becomes the prey and the prey the hunter and all over from the start again. It moved me deeply. The film speaks about war, conflict, life, death, belonging, loyalty, betrayal and so many other things. You experience everything in the moment, you identify yourself with every side and the repetition becomes a trance, while the film itself becomes universal and timeless.”

Most of the films I wanted to watch and couldn’t find anywhere else, were released by this label Second Run DVD. It was an educational experience as well because I got to learn about filmmakers or films I had never heard of before. When they asked to release my first feature film Kinetta, I was utterly flattered. This was a label that I was familiar with and its collection showed impeccable taste. Hard to find, precious, unique, important films from around the world. I was honoured that Kinetta would be included in a collection of films by such renowned filmmakers of earlier generations but also younger filmmakers that I appreciate greatly.”

Yorgos Lanthimos is an award-winning Greek filmmaker. His film Dogtooth (2009) was nominated for an Academy Award for Best Foreign Language Film. His other film works include Kinetta (2005) and Alps (2011). His latest film The Lobster won the 2015 Cannes Film Festival Jury Prize.  

The Red and the White, dir. Miklós Jancsó, Hungary 1967, 87 mins, Hungarian with English subtitles.

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