The Annunciation (film)

The Annunciation (Angyali üdvözlet)
A Crucifixion in Byzantium
Directed byAndrás Jeles
Written by
Starring
Cinematography
Edited by
  • Margit Galamb
  • Zsuzsa Pósán
Music byIstván Márta
Distributed byAward Films
Release date
  • 20 September 1984 (1984-09-20)
Running time
100 min
CountryHungary
LanguageHungarian

The Annunciation (Hungarian: Angyali üdvözlet) is a Hungarian film directed by András Jeles in 1984, based on The Tragedy of Man (1861) by Imre Madách.

Plot summary

When Adam (Péter Bocsor) and Eve (Júlia Mérő), having succumbed to Lucifer's temptation, are cast out of the Garden of Eden, Adam holds Lucifer (Eszter Gyalog) to his promise, reminding him that "You said I would know everything!". So Lucifer grants Adam a dream of the world to come. In the dream, Adam becomes Djoser in Egypt; Miltiades in Athens; a wealthy Roman during the time of Jesus Christ; a knight called Tancred in Byzantium; Johannes Kepler in Prague; Danton in revolutionary Paris; and a nameless suitor in Victorian London. Guided by a deceptively sweet but ultimately contemptuous Lucifer, Adam confronts an endless procession of the horror of the human story involving rape, betrayal, savagery, mindless cruelty and fanaticism.

Cast

  • Péter Bocsor as Adam
  • Júlia Mérő as Eve
  • Eszter Gyalog as Lucifer
  • György Belme
  • Róbert Borók
  • Attila Dobay
  • Evelin Fehér

Production

The film is entirely performed by children. It was photographed against the fields, forests, mesas and shores of southern Hungary. The Annunciation is made in Pasolini style.

See also